Project Name: Aria Bay, Age Care Facility
Project Location: Browns Bay, Auckland
Contractor/Client: Arvida
Products: Ribon fascia/soffit system, Ribon soffit system
Soffit Colours: Pacific White
Quantity m2: 1500m2
Project Characteristics: Porte cochere, balconies, canopies and roof eaves
The older we get, the more we notice wrinkles. It’s true of both our faces and our fascia. When the architects for Aria Bay age care facility laid out their design, they specified that the fascia and soffits be something the elderly residents would appreciate; a smooth and seamless surface, with no visible joins.
Ribon is a New Zealand company that creates steel soffits in an original and ingenious new system that uses interlocking panels. Ribon’s soffits look better (because there are no visible fastenings or screws, they last longer (thanks to its colour-coated steel) and are light and easy to install.
Kiwi Keith Russell re-invents the soffit
Aria Bay, on Auckland’s North Shore, was one of Ribon’s first large jobs and a true test of creator Keith Russell’s innovative interlocking soffit system. Keith used to be in the roofing and spouting trades, and the lack of efficiency in the traditional approach to soffit construction used to drive him up the wall. The product was heavy and hard to manage and he described installing cement sheet soffits as an “awful, awkward job”.
Not one to sit back and complain, Keith put his thinking cap on and began outlining a soffit system that has become a game-changer for architects and contractors alike.
Building owners love the system because it saves money in installation, skips the need for multiple tradies and, when it comes to ongoing maintenance, it couldn’t be less of a bother.
Clients enjoy working with Keith, who responds quickly and works hard to make sure they’re happy; ensuring they’re handed exactly what they’d been promised. Often going beyond the call, Keith has earned the trust and ongoing business of companies like Arvida, who, since tasking him with the Aria Bay project, have chosen to work with him again and again; in Lauriston Park, Cambridge and most recently on Bethlehem Shores Village in Tauranga.
Says Arvida, “Keith’s got a good reputation around our team. He’ll go to the depths to make things happen.” First Principles, another of Ribon’s clients, agrees. “Keith is fantastic. You call him. If something pops up like a different connection for it, it’s sorted mate – sorted in an hour. That’s the difference. He’s right on top of his product.”
It seems Keith is every bit as solid as his near-indestructable system.
A soffit system built to last
The Ribon system itself is made of colour-coated steel, pre-cut to precisely fit the space it inhabits. Though strong, the panels are light in weight; and, because they’re easy to install, they go up quickly and efficiently. Once finished, the soffit requires no painting or maintenance beyond the occasional squirt of a hose. Keith’s Ribon soffits have been installed in some of the harshest and saltiest of conditions on earth and to-date, the system remains serenely unaffected.
JTB, the architects tasked with designing Aria Bay, discovered Ribon and made sure they were introduced to Arvida. Says JTB of Arvida, “they have an interest in the durability and quality…They’re different from a developer who might just be selling it or leasing it and walking away.” Architects love the Ribon system because it’s beautiful to look at and the steel is 100% recyclable. Eco-concerns are pretty much always in the brief these days.
Unending improvements and optimisation
If Arvida was happy with the Aria Bay work, they must be over the moon with subsequent jobs, as Keith has never stopped optimising and improving his system. The process is even smoother now he’s introduced features on the brackets which make installation quicker than his previous quick. By redesigning the bracket that frames the system with multiple slots and holes, the system can now be more easily adjusted. This allows the installer to achieve near-perfect alignment.
As more complex designs began appearing on the scene, Keith found ways to increase the team’s efficiency. Like finding a way to create custom-folded panels onsite. The use of Wuko Roll benders gives the team the ability to cut and re-fold panels on the spot, up to 8m long. This is gold because in building, time saved is money saved.
Keith sees this as “learning to problem-solve more efficiently”. He says in a commercial environment you must be able to have, “either more resource available at a moment’s notice or tackle building discrepancies to achieve the same expected level of high quality.” He stays closely involved with each level of the process and keeps the lines of communication open and up-to-date.
The Aria Bay project came off well, despite encountering challenges with off-team builders. He recalls, that on the Aria Bay project they hired a number of local subcontractors, but of them found it hard to keep up with the pace of a big commercial build as they were more used to working on small residential jobs. Keith says, “we have learned from this and have decided to keep the more challenging projects in-house.”
Since then, Keith and his Ribon team have completed hundreds of successful soffit and fascia installations both in New Zealand and overseas. As word spreads, demand is growing and Ribon is becoming a go-to for architects and contractors who are short on time but big on beauty and quality that endures
