"Something new and totally different," was the brief given to designer Carolyn Prier from Caro Design. The Mount Maunganui resident was after a complete renovation on the exterior of his existing home which was built with Macrocarpa timber cladding. He put the challenging makeover fully into Carolyn's hands and told her, "If I'm going to do anything with this house I want to be radical and I want a wow finish."

Carolyn accepted the challenge and with the expertise of architect Andre Laurent from Creative Space looked to the Laminam catalogue for inspiration.

With some new ideas and a product that had not been used residentially in New Zealand, the client got his wish. Using the Laminam Blend Grigio for the exterior cladding which complemented the aluminium screens was a first and certainly made a statement.

The project was a real test for Carolyn, who had no experience in exterior design, and for the tiler, Lucan Rihari from Tile Fix, who had not previously worked with Laminam. Andre's house was also under renovation and decided it would be perfect as a test run for the tiler and the product. It worked perfectly.

The next challenge was aesthetic: the house looked boxy and disjointed. By adding decks and using Laminam Oxide Perla, the team managed to make the house look more uniform without having to change the structure. The existing timber was removed, a cavity created and the Laminam exterior cladding applied.

For Carolyn, her favourite element was the large sheet size of Laminam, which allowed it to be broken down into modules, making it economical. Using the two different coloured products highlighted the home's architecture.

The client was delighted with the end result. The house is easy to maintain and seems to always look clean. The fact that the house is so different is exactly what the client wanted, he can't go anywhere without people commenting on it.

Laminam is the world's first full body porcelain ceramic tile in a large 3000 x 1000mm format, with a thickness of just 3.5mm. This makes it possible to use large ceramic surfaces in previously unthinkable applications. Laminam is a revolutionary new way to skin architectural surfaces.