Boutique developer BPM Corp was looking for timber screen facades for the Onyx Apartments in Brisbane's trendy West End.

"The architects for the West End Apartment project considered many material options for the weather screens on these apartments but settled on the Futurewood Composite DecoScreen," says John Howard from Industrial Plastic Shapes Ltd.

Completed in January, Futurewood DecoBoard was chosen because it is a modern, sustainably produced composite material with all the look and feel of timber and none of the knot holes, splits or imperfections. Futurewood lasts in the punishing Australian climate without the yearly sanding and oiling ritual that hardwood demands and offered BPM Corp the ability to build an attractive screen facade with no compromise to aesthetic.

"The advantages were obvious," adds Howard, "along with the 10 year warrantee against splitting, splintering and colour fastness, the DecoScreen requires very little maintenance which is perfect for this hard to reach exterior application."

The same theory was behind the decision to use Futurewood DecoBoard for the cladding on the Kew East Apartments in Melbourne, says Howard. "The flexibility to colour-match the Futurewood to satisfy the developer was key to choosing DecoBoard for this project."

Futurewood is produced almost entirely from recycled materials, including wood waste, rice husks and industrial plastic waste. This material is used throughout the three profiles: Composite DecoScreen, DecoBoard and Decking.