The latest news from the Grand Designs team is that our project is being filmed and edited as we speak, and is slated for release in early May. We are so excited to see our product on this quality show: a fitting backdrop to our quality product (I can hear a trumpet?!)!
Really…we got some fantastic feedback from Kevin Reilly from Reilly’s Building Services – the builders on the job up there. We are really thrilled because they are so happy with the product that they want to use more of it!
‘The whole transition was a pleasure. The product fits the project perfectly and your customer service was refreshing.
The film crew are up here over the next three days and Daniel advises it will go to air on the 2nd of May. Click on our website and the Trinity Beach portfolio has a link to the Boys Grand Designs ad.
Will certainly be looking for the opportunity to use your product again’.
Awesome!
Of course, Sentrel Balustrades and Pool Fencing is the perfect answer for the tropical lifestyle…outdoor entertaining and swimming pools are an essential part of life in that part of the world…that and a cool G & T on the chaise!
After many, many months of anticipation, this beautiful home in Trinity Beach in idyllic North Queensland is ready. Ready to take on the world with its Australian debut on Grand Designs in the near future, on the Fox Channel in April/May.
This project began with an impossible driveway in one of the wettest areas of the country, high above the trees with the mountain to the back of the site. The video on the Grand Designs website is a glimpse into what the builders and designers (to say nothing of the home-owners and even the TV crew!) had to face to begin the long journey of creating this masterpiece.
These photos say it all. The house has been landscaped perfectly into its tropical setting, and it’s all too easy to envisage yourself slipping into that lap pool on those hot, summer days. Best of all (OK, we’re biased…) but our balustrade works perfectly in this environment – tropical, timber, elegant and almost invisible – timeless character to an already classic Aussie contemporary home. Obviously the producers of Grand Designs think so, too.
Can’t wait to see our balustrade and pool fencing in the round, so to speak, when the program goes live next month. Stay tuned via the blog or ‘Like’ our Facebook page to hear about when the show is on. Can’t wait!
The beautiful home is set into the landscaped gardens with filtered ocean views. The cool and very necessary breezes coming off the Coral Sea flow freely through the balustrade uprights.
The design is really unusual and obviously alot of thought has gone into framing the pool with our balutrade, whilst still maintaining the seamless ‘infinity’ profile that is so luxurious and desirable these days.
The view from inside the home out to the Coral Sea. I want to live there! Simple, refined and uncluttered. You can see that the designers have used our balustrade around the total perimeter of the building, incorporating it into a beautiful, yet functional, maintenace pathway around the entire dwelling, making window cleaning a snap! Not a bad job to have to do in that setting…
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) is Australia’s largest residential building organisation.
HIA represents a network of more than 40,000 members – from decking and pool fencing suppliers, builders, carpenters and joiners, bricklayers, plasterers, tilers and electricians to painters, roofing contractors, kitchen and bathroom specialists and many more.
HIA members are committed to promoting the highest standards of customer service, workmanship and business conduct, as well as full compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, codes and standards. They also subscribe to a strict code of conduct that sets acceptable standards of commercial behaviour, which provides additional peace of mind for home owners.
A visit to the Housing Local website will give you heaps of inspiration for developing your property, and for those of you who have been inspired to move into the scary but satisfying area of home renovation (not that the TV ratings have anything to do with that…no!) they have a whole section relating to renos with heaps of ideas and facts to guide you throught the process!
Don’t forget to check out our listing, which we are very proud of. Our association with the HIA goes way back, and we are simply delighted to be involved in their latest, quality venture.
Our wauchope manufacturer, Bago Woodworks, delivered a stunning curved balustrate for this contemporary home on the shores of Smiths Lake on the Midnorth Coast of NSW. The use of timber as a key element of the design was important in blending the home with the site and providing a warmth to compliment the rammed earth walls.
Even with the constraints of a high level bushfire assessment, timber was skillfully utilised externally and internally presenting as a dominant material. These timbers came from a mix of new, site-milled and salvaged sources. The use of timbers from the site truly assists in the integration of the built form into its surroundings.
Recycled jarrah was available from a local timber merchant, and with the client hailing from Western Australia it seemed an appropriate introduction to the palette of materials. The warmth of its red hues provided a perfect centre piece to the primary living area with a large slab used for the top of the kitchen island bench. It was also used for the feature external cladding.
A blackbutt bush pole, cut from the house site, emerges through the island bench to support an exposed timber framed mezzanine space. The mezzanine is constructed from locally sourced blackbutt framing timbers and red mahogany flooring. The curves, form and texture of the timber elements provide a perfect counterpoint to the more rectilinear form of the dwelling itself. Red mahogany floor boards are used on all but lowest level of the home.
Blackbutt, recycled oregon and red mahogany were combined with hoop pine plywood to create custom built joinery, some pieces built in and others freestanding. The bunk room features beds crafted from the deep sections of Oregon. Red mahogany also features as the internal reveals to the windows.
The stair, wrapping around a rammed earth wall, is constructed of blackbutt with a vertical jarrah balustrade. The timbers throughout the house are finished with Danish oil.
The recent state Government announcement to extend the date for pool or spa owners to register their poolshas highlighted the fact that only approximately 35% of pools are not registered. Owners need to ensure their pools are registered.
‘That’s the frightening statistic provided by Queensland based Pool Fence Inspection business ‘The Pool Fence People’, said General Manager Rob Astill. ‘We have been offering a free pool registration service along with an inspection pre-book service now available through our website or via the Complete Pool Directory and that has peaked recently with puzzled pool owners contacting us to find out what do as they are unable to reach the government due to their phones always being busy’.
‘Our statistics indicate that around 35% of the requests for registration we get are not already registered when we check government systems and that means it’s all the more important for pool owners to make sure they are registered now in addition to pre-booking their inspection to ensure they have a compliant pool or spa’.
‘The fact that there has been a sudden spike in registrations with so many pools still not registered says to me that people are not understanding the new laws and the requirements they need to follow’, says Samantha Browne from the Complete Qld Pool Directory. ‘If people want to keep up-to-date or ask questions with all the pool requirements, they can use our website to do so.
Sentrel Products Receives DesignEX Award for Best Product!
Sentrel Vertical Cable Balustrade and Pool Fencing has just been awarded ‘Best New Product – Architectural External & Structural Products’at this year’s Melbourne DesignEX. Australia’s leading design and architecture event presents the best in contemporary and classic designs. This trade-only event has been at the forefront of the design and architectural arena for over 20 years.
Sentrel’s designer, Brett Harrison, was unable receive the award, which was accepted on his behalf by Louise Scott, who was in Melbourne as part of Sentrel’s Sales and Marketing team. Interior designer and executive sales manager Jennifer Fair is delighted with the honour, reflecting that a great deal of hard work had gone on behind the scenes to get the product to the show. ‘In a product like pool fencing and balustrade, complying with Australian Standards is essential. The testing is rigorous. Engineer certification and quality craftsmanship are essential to us. We made it through the process and the design is still stunning! We love it’.
Jen and her partner Bob Acton, from Byron Bay, first came into contact with Sentrel by entering and winning a competition for $6,000 of Sentrel’s Pool Fencing in 2009. Bob is a building designer, so between them there were a few ‘lively conversations’ about which way to go for pool fencing. Glass was good-looking but needed cleaning and didn’t let the breezes through, steel didn’t offer any kind of visual appeal to them as designers and horizontal cable balustrade has never been legal for pools. They loved the vertical cable Sentrel product so much they became partners in Sentrel Australia and are taking the business around the country with their enthusiasm and expertise.
Dean and Anneke Lovell of Bago Woodworks in Wauchope, manufacture the product, and have also recently come on board as shareholders in the company. Bago Woodworks is renowned for their quality craftsmanship and attention to detail, and have been building fine furniture for years. The ‘Best Product’ award to Sentrel Australia is a testament to small business success in our state, combining the talents and skills of a design, manufacturing and sales team across 3 regional areas in New South Wales producing an Australian-made product using Australian hardwoods. Congratulations to Sentrel!
Sentrel is both delighted and saddened by the movement offshore of our much-loved Public Relations Consultant. This move has been planned for some time, but of course now that the time is upon us, we find that we are quite emotional about our loss.
‘Delighted’ we are because our Public Relations Manager (a.k.a Director of the company…a.k.a Brett Harrison) is off to Cuba to dance his little heart out!
‘Saddened’ we are because we are mildly envious (only mildly) because in his absence we work, slaving our hearts out at designEX and on other ventures! (Oh, well, I know that we just wrote a blog about how much we’re looking forward to designEX – just don’t tell him that!).
So, if you have wonderful, enchanting and positive stories to regale us with about how much you love our products, write to jen@sentrel.com.au and she will bask in your praise and sunshine. In the (highly) unlikely event that you have a complaint for us, er, send it to brettincuba@sentrel/cuba.com.au and say we sent you. That is, if your email can find him at that address….Hellooooo!
Sentrel Balustrades and Pool Fencing at Melbourne DesignEX!
We at Sentrel Balustrades and Pool Fencing are really thrilled to be exhibiting at Melbourne designEX this year. This Design and Architecture, Interior Design, Contemporary and Classic Design Mecca is all about showcasing exemplary products and materials to designers from all the major design disciplines.
We’re feeling really blessed to have secured Stand 1601, a spot just near the main entry where all those pumped-up architects are going to be flooding into the Exhibition Hall, ready to soak up the excellence of our Balustrades and Pool Fencingand be impressed by the technical and safety features of our product. So, we’re calling all architects and interior and landscape designers to find us at Stand 1601 and get to know us, our products and our passion for our industry.
Legislation surrounding safe pool enclosures is under constant review in an effort to address the issue of child safety in swimming pool areas. Balustrade and Pool Fencing laws are tighter than ever, so it is vital that pool owners familiarise themselves with the latest safety legislation.
From an ethical and legal standpoint, a thorough understanding of the reality of keeping children safe near swimming pools is essential. Our beautiful products provide safety and peace of mind, by satisfying the swimming pool legislation. For your information, click here to view the press release from Barbara Perry, minister for Local Government, regarding NSW swimming pool laws.
Rumour: Sentrel Wins Controversial Upgrade to Dingo Fence
Wow! Where do rumours begin? This is a beauty! Not that we mind, we’d be selling a whole lot of balustrade for that bit of fencing…If you haven’t seen the ad, have a look here. or, visit YouTube if you want to send it around…spread that rumour! Of course, it just goes to show how versatile and beautiful our products are for this kind of hullaballoo! What do you think?
