When building their new home, Pauanui couple Hayden and Erin, wanted a different look and feel to that of standard plasterboard — something that would provide a warm finish and complement their coastal surroundings. With timber used for cladding and decking, it was only natural to continue the timber look to the inside of the home. They opted for Plytech’s Ambience Poplar pre-finished wall lining for interior walls throughout.

Ambience Poplar is a lightweight European Poplar plywood that provides an attractive alternative to traditional wall linings. For Hayden and Erin, the appeal of Ambience lay in the warm colour and natural grain of the ply. The fact that the panels can be supplied prefinished made their decision even easier and helped them save on the time and costs of finishing.

Ease of installation was another important consideration. Hayden himself worked alongside a single builder to install the ply wall linings throughout the house — from the garage, through to bedrooms, dining and living spaces. The lightweight panels were glued to the plasterboard with care taken to create negative details, providing attractive clean lines throughout.

Hayden was pleased with how simple the installation process was. “It was a lot quicker than what we thought,” he explains. “Even with all the negative detail, it was a reasonably quick process. We finished the whole house in three weeks.”

Now complete, Hayden and Erin are thrilled with the look and feel of their home. The natural grain of the Ambience Poplar ply brings a touch of nature indoors, with the warm, sandy colour providing a subtle reference to the Pauanui Landscape.

“The Ambience Poplar product is just awesome,” says Hayden. “We are really happy — it just saved us so much time by not having to get normal ply and then varnish it all. It’s easy to clean and it looks great. We’re stoked.”