The increased focus on sustainability has led to homes and building owners reducing the amount of lawns they water in a bid to save water resources and reduce costly, time-consuming and potentially polluting maintenance.

This has been in part driven by government legislation, such as council requirements for building development applications to meet the 60:40 ratio for hard and permeable surfaces in domestic environments. This aims to ensure that a standard building’s ‘hard’ section, including the patio, garage and pool, do not cover more then 60 per cent of the land, whilst the remaining 40 per cent remain green areas.

This means there is a greater chance of excess water being retained on-site and not down the stormwater system, says Reg Carter, sales director for iPave. “I believe the council requirements are the biggest factor influencing the use of pavers and this will continue to have an even greater impact as time progresses.”

Paving is still made from three core materials: clay, concrete and stone. Although concrete is the most common type marketed today, it is in clay pavers where we have seen a rapid increase in popularity, particularly in driveways, says Amber Tiles’ product development manager, Mike Barden. Having placed greater focus on clay pavers with the recent release of its new Selkirk Paver range, Barden highlights its ability to absorb water when it rains, thus decreasing stormwater run-off.

Brett Ward, group marketing manager for Brickworks, which markets the Austral Bricks range of clay pavers, does not see any foreseeable change away from the use of clay due to its sustainability advantages. “Clay pavers are produced by a readily available material of which there are abundant resources, with the clay deposits used in close proximity to the production centres, which therefore reduces the distances for transport.

“Also, clay pavers, because of their durability, can be recycled, thereby increasing their life cycle. This is a major advantage over concrete pavers.” Ward also points out the advantage of clay pavers over concrete of being colour-fast, with the benefit of strong colour retention over many years.

But concrete has its advantages too, says William Caswell, marketing manager of Hanson Masonry. He says: “Concrete’s big advantage is an inherent ‘dimensional stability’ over clay and the ability to make a paver thicker and stronger if needed. You don’t have this ability with clay, because the paver will ‘distort’ during firing.”

Cues from overseas

Feelings are mixed over whether Australia is a leader or a follower of overseas trends. Caswell is unsure, saying that many trends from the US and Europe are yet to reach Australia. “In Italy, for example, the trends point towards smaller, more uneven shaped pavers which are used extensively in metro areas. This style of paver originates from the cobbled streets of yesteryear and is yet to become common in the Australian paving market.”

However, Amber’s Barden says that while Australians have always had a love affair with quality tile and stone pavers, “the Italians are the trendsetters with new ideas, new colours and innovative applications that influence the Australian market”.

Carter from iPave disagrees and states that within wet cast paving in particular, “we are five to eight years ahead of the Italians, which means that in broad terms, we are far in front of Europe in general”.

Popular colours at iPave have included sandstone, parchment/cream, pale browns, charcoal and sometimes greens. Barden says subtle, mute tones have taken centre stage, but also that colour has started to make a big comeback. “It’s bright, it’s beautiful and it’s bold. Colour is reappearing indoors, outdoors, on floors and walls,” he says.

Amber’s indoor specialist, Kate Lane, says this trend is driven by Europe, with international designers moving towards new tones and new applications. “In terms of clay and concrete pavers, these are now coming in a wide range of colours, including reds, browns and dark greys, as well as natural stone, which is flecked with colour that changes as it ages, revealing new tones.”

However, Austral’s Ward claims there is likely to be a trend towards lighter colours in the future, providing a contrast to the vibrant colours of the garden. This is backed up by Caswell from Hanson, who highlights the growth in natural stone pavers has taken off on the back of increased environmental awareness.

Interestingly, the paving market has gone a full 360 degrees with shapes and sizes. Larger rectangular pavers had been popular, notes Caswell. Then trends moved to the larger square-shaped pavers that are currently in the market. “Moving forward, the challenge will be to carry a full range of paving sizes and shapes, with a standard base being around 400 mm x 400 mm x 40 mm and extending to a 600 mm x 300 mm x 40 mm rectangular range,” he says.

Both Carter and Ward agree there’s been a big shift towards large format pavers. Accordingly, Austral Bricks released its Riviera clay paver range in the 300 mm x 300 mm and 400 mm x 400 mm sizes two years ago. Earlier this year, Austral also released 225 mm Riviera pavers.

Boral has also got in on the move towards large formats, with the introduction of its Naturepave range of clay pavers, sized 300 mm x 300 mm x 40 mm. These will be available in NSW and Victoria in four colours — bark, cane, straw and peat.

With porcelain apparently undergoing a re-emergence in pavers, Barden says that Amber has also released a new range of porcelain tile pavers which he says are “cool, durable and low maintenance”. In addition, he says the company is about to release a new range of stone paving products.

The latest trend in Australia, says Caswell, is hinging around permeable paving systems which control the flow and dispersing of water. “These types of systems, which also control aspects such as water collection and filtration, have been popular in the UK for some years,” he says, “and they have now slowly started to grow in popularity in Australia”.

With other manufacturers, such as iPave, claiming to be on the brink of releasing a domestic and commercial permeable paving system, Caswell says there is no doubt that this area will continue to expand due to its environmental value.