JBD Design was engaged to design the interiors of a skin clinic on Lime Street, Barangaroo, NSW. The pandemic was not the only challenge for JBD Design’s Jason who was presented with a brief to transform a 1980s commercial building with low ceilings and exposed I-beams into an oasis of tranquillity and opulence where clients could pause, relax and renew.

Based on a design colleague’s recommendation, Jason decided to use Elton Group’s WoodWall – a prefinished timber veneer for interior walls and ceilings – in this project. The project space was small, encompassing an area of 150 square metres over two floors. Expert planning was required to maximise space and circulation, resulting in the language of curved elements as the obvious design solution and WoodWall, the natural surface finish.

WoodWall in Planked Walnut was chosen to wrap around the undulating partitions, providing the required flexibility and introducing richness to the space. As the project progressed, WoodWall was also used across other surfaces. The resulting space features a series of softly curved surfaces wrapped in walnut veneer – dark, rich and moody in contrast to the light, clean line aesthetic commonly adopted in beauty clinics.

According to Jason, this project represents a beautiful ‘end-to-end’ story of working with Elton Group. One of the project’s biggest challenges was in meeting code requirements for Luminance Visual Contrast without compromising the rich, dark and moody palette. Elton Group worked with Jason to provide the light reflectance values, enabling him to achieve an outcome that satisfied both the design team and the certifier, by incorporating a deep gloss green on the skirting and architraves.

WoodWall perfectly mastered the organic curves and became the signature element to this project. “Reflecting back, WoodWall took the project from really beautiful to spectacular. I’m looking forward to using it again,” Jason said.

The project manager of TD Shopfitters, Elton Zhu, who was also a first-time user of WoodWall, was won over by the ease of application and the quality of the prefinished polished surface, allowing the joiners to simplify logistics and reduce time both in production and on site.

Photography: Traianos Pakioufakis