Elegant doorways | Metalier Liquid Metal
Elegant doorways need style and light: Metalier Liquid Coatings
At Metalier we specialize in making entrances and doorways into design statements. Metalier’s liquid metal is a good place to begin if you want to make a statement with your door.
Doorways can be simple or exotic
Like the mosque doorway pictured doorways can be as exotic as your imagination will allow. The photograph in this blog comes courtesy of David Latt’s blog “www.menwholiketotravel.com”. The mosque is in Morocco and features detailed and beautiful tiles and metalwork on very tall doorways. David tells us that the mosque overlooks the breakwater and harbour. It sounds almost too good to be true.
Doorways need light
When you are designing your doorways you need to give consideration to lighting. This applies to every material you use but is particularly so when you are using metal, whether it is Metalier liquid metal or sheet metal.
Metal gleams, shines and reveals its light when it is in the light. That message was brought home loud and clear to us when we had a kitchen with a stainless steel bench. There were no curtains or blinds as the location meant there was no need for privacy. The morning sun would stream in and hit the bench. It was blinding! We had to put a towel over the bench – which somewhat defeated the purpose.
The stainless steel example was extreme but, nevertheless, it reinforces the point. Metal reflects light and needs good lighting so that it appears burnished, rich and full. Metalier liquid metals are real metals and require the same lighting as their sheet metal cousins. This can be natural light from outside or it can be artificial. In corridors and apartment doorways, it is particularly important to make sure that the lighting will enhance your beautiful doorways.
We can advise which of our finishes will best suit your entranceway. Contact us now to talk it through either be telephone, email or by completing the form below to find out more about all the options Metalier can offer.
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Michael Graves Metal Design | A tribute
Michael Graves a metal design icon has died
Metalier notes with regret the passing of Michael Graves metal design icon and architect. We discovered Michael Graves metal design in the 80's when he designed for Alessi the celebrated kettle. Like everyone we loved the bird that sings when the water boils. We also had to have the little sugar bowl and the milk jug that go with it. The influences on the design of the kettle included Art Deco and Pop Art.
Michael Graves’ design is a leading example of how good design can enrich our lives
The testimonials to Graves’ design are many. Bill Clinton, former US president said “Michael Graves has created art that surrounds our lives”. Aldo Rossi said “I hope that Michael continues to design this world and deploy his superb abilities as an architect in order to tell us a tale of distinct ages or eras to come”. And Michael Eisner, the former President of Disney Corporation said “Michael Graves is an architect for whom design has no boundaries. There is no such thing as an insignificant object”.
So little kettle you will continue to sing on. You will do your work of heating the water for the tea or coffee. And you will continue to please with your beauty and amuse with your singing bird.
I’m sure that many others think similarly. The teakettle has been Alessi’s top-selling product every year since its debut in 1985 so there are a lot of fans out there.
Michael Graves metal design was only part of his design work
Graves was one of the New York Five group of New York City Architects who had a common allegiance to a pure form of architectural modernism. He defected from modernism, however, and later worked as a post-modern architect. He designed over 350 buildings around the world and more than 2,000 household objects.
Metal Design is what Metalier is all about
At Metalier we have some design genes of our own but best of all we like to use our metals and our knowledge to help you to realise your designs.
Contact us at once if you feel the muse coming over you!
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Metal Kitchen Design | Metalier Liquid Metal
Metalier is a versatile contribution to metal kitchen design
Metalier’s liquid metal has featured as a significant component in many metal kitchen design ideas.
A specially-created silver effect was used in a kitchen and also the kitchen/bar of a prominent Auckland legal firm’s senior partners’ common room.
Metalier’s liquid metal rust has been used to great effect on glass in a private kitchen design. Canyon (smoky bronze) has featured as a rangehood cover in another.
Metalier’s liquid metal in black waxed aluminium the featured image was specified in the metal kitchen design for Hallensteins.
Metal Kitchen Design with Metalier can be flamboyant or discrete
Whether your muse takes you to minimal and sleek or bold vibrant colour and patterns Metalier allows you to realise your unique metal kitchen design. And on occasions you can be sleek and flamboyant – the Hallensteins’ kitchen is a great example of this. Sleek, sophisticated and moody black waxed aluminium teams with a riot of colour in the splash-back tiles.
Metalier finishes can be riotous too
Think vivid green or black patina on iron or copper. Think pearlescent tones on copper, mountain gold and brass. Think our 4 varieties of rust. Think metal combinations and also think Lace. We’ve just acquired a new lace which features beautiful roses. It’s called Diana, no doubt after Princess Di.
This is lovely as one metal in two “depths”. But it will be spectacular in two different metals.
We are feeling very pleased to be working with Mal Corboy at the moment. Mal Corboy is an international award-winning kitchen designer. He does bathrooms too but is most known for his kitchens. Mal’s kitchens are adventurous and eye-catching. We love working with him because his ideas are so original.
To get your kitchen ideas into reality contact Metalier here to see what the options are. They are actually unlimited. Or fill in the contact form below.
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Awesome Distributors | Metalier Liquid Metal
International Awesome Distributors
This week is going to be an unashamed rave about Metalier’s awesome distributors.
First Brunei
Mettech Design Solution our awesome distributors in Brunei Darussalam posted on Facebook photographs of great work they have done on glass. Yes glass is a suitable substrate for Metalier Liquid Metal Coatings.
Then Russia
Andrew of Prime Décor in Yekaterinberg our awesome distributor in the Russian Federation proudly posted pictures of his first Metalier commission. He has every right to be proud. His work is beautiful and the design fantastic. Andrew is the newest member of the Metalier team and we’re very proud to have him on board.
And then we have the UK
Craig & Ali & Steve of Granlyn Specialist Coatings, our awesome distributors in the UK and Ireland and our European Hub, have excelled themselves again at the Surface Design Show in London. The show has just finished today and they have had 620 visitors to their stand in under 2 and a half days. Once again they were the star of the show. We love the iron ball in the forefront of the picture on this page. The little dots are magnets. They had 4 different visitors say that their stand was the most innovating and interesting in the whole show. And we can understand why. We expect they might be a mite exhausted by now!
There has to be a reason
There has to be a reason why so many people in such different parts of the world have become such awesome distributors. And the reason is quite simple – Metalier Liquid Metal Coatings are easy to work with and allow you to release your creativity and produce beautiful work that you couldn’t produce any other way.
If you think you would like to be part of the team but are hesitating – then don’t. Contact us by email or telephone or fill in the form below. To see more pictures of the work we’re bragging about, like us on Facebook and keep up to date with the Metalier world.
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Exterior metal coating | Metalier Liquid Metal
Metalier is an Exterior Metal Coating.
Metalier’s real metal can be used as an exterior metal coating or an interior one. It so happens that most of the recent commissions in New Zealand have been interior. We are, however, just as happy outdoors as we are inside.
The properties of Metalier make it an ideal exterior coating
First – the principal ingredient in Metalier is real metal. Metals oxidise with age: if not protected they patina or rust. But they are unaffected by UV which is a huge bonus for outdoor coatings. Think how many coatings fade and look dull when exposed to the sun. This just doesn’t happen with Metalier.
We like using the example of a pair of church doors to illustrate this property. Before Metalier they were varnished wood. One door was left open most days so people could pop into the building for a quiet time. The other was closed. The varnish on door that was open most of the time kept looking good for many years. The closed door which took the full force of the elements looked like it. When both doors were closed they looked quite different.
Metalier bronze was applied to the doors. Now, eight years later they look like the day they were installed. An excellent in situ uv experiment.
Second – Metalier real metal exterior metal coating is durable. It lasts for 25 plus years and protected with our nano clear coat, provided the clear coat is not heavily abraided there is no reason why it shouldn’t last 25 years too. So at 50 years that’s the life expectancy required for most new buildings and structures in New Zealand.
Third – water does not damage Metalier – an essential ingredient for an exterior metal coating. Metalier has been used in fountains and water features and we currently have a bath in our workshop which is being coated with Mountain Gold polish. It will look amazing and I promise photos.
Fourth – metal is a beautiful inorganic natural material. Metalier brings metal to architecture and design in a way that minimises the use of this precious resource. We are very proud of that.
Contact us here to organize us to coat your new water feature, the letters outside your house or on your apartment (we’ve just done the numbers for the Vert apartments on Jervois Road, Herne Bay) or for panels or features or maybe a statue. Metalier can do it all.
Or contact us using the form below.
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Metal Colors | Metalier Liquid Metal
Innovative metal colors from Metalier
Innovative metal colors are one of the many things that excite us at Metalier. Colour and design are, after all, what Metalier is all about and sometimes we have trouble containing our excitement. What with new metal colors of our own and a super new colour from Pantone, 2015 is going to be a great year for colour, variety and doing new things.
Metalier is introducing new metal colors
In the supposed quiet of January we spend a good many hours deciding on the new metal colors we will introduce to our range. I can let slip that these include zinc and nickel silver but the others must remain a secret for now.
Pantone has announced its new color for 2015.
It’s Marsala – a sexy and warm sophisticated blend that complements colder colors and pleases the senses. Combining it with a light grey-blue appeals to me. The picture in the header to this blog post is a rust interpretation of marsala. We like the little bark hearts too – just in time for Valentine’s Day. We think marsala is a wonderful colour and as it’s a form of rather splendid alcohol too, it ticks all the boxes for us, especially on a Friday afternoon.
Metalier’s Marsala Rust
Metalier produces a reddish rust similar to Marsala by applying its proprietary Patina M5 to iron. Our other patinas produce yellow, orange and volcanic rust so rust will fit any colour scheme you have in mind.
Metalier Innovation in 2015 is not just about new metal colors
We are also experimenting with new sharp patterns – stripes and squares and metal combinations. They will still be hand-done but the new techniques we have developed will allow a more uniform effect. We like it and are sure you will too.
To keep up to date with developments you could sign up for our blog, contact us through our contact page or complete the form below. Any way suits us just fine. We’ll look forward to hearing from you.
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Metal Sculptures | Metalier Liquid Metal
Metalier offers choices for Metal Sculptures
Metal Sculptures are on our minds as the biennial Waiheke Sculpture Trail has just opened. It coincides with glorious weather in Auckland and our annual city holiday so things couldn’t be better. The Sculpture trail is a 2km walk round one of the headlands of the island. The views back to Auckland City and magnificent and after the walk you can enjoy a glass (or two) of award-winning Waiheke wine. What’s not to like?
Metalier Liquid metal is suitable to use to create Metal Sculptures
The Waiheke walk (which was glorious – Auckland at its best) put me in mind of kinetic sculptures. There are no kinetic sculptures in the exhibition this time but there is one in the garden of a house that borders the walking track. Fascinating! Our featured image is of a kinetic sculpture named Tailwind by Troy Pillow, an American sculptor. You can read more about his work here.
At Metalier we have often been called upon to assist with the creation of works that are impossibly expensive in solid steel. An example currently on the books is a civic scale kinetic sculpture. I can’t tell you who the artist is as it’s a BIG secret. What I can tell you is that to build it in Stainless Steel would cost $7M – that’s right – seven million dollars. To build it using fibreglass with a Metalier Coating will cost $500000 – five hundred thousand dollars. That is a whopping saving of 93%. The rate-payers will jump for joy!
I couldn’t help thinking, while on the walk, that a number of the metal sculptures could have been executed with different substrates and Metalier coatings. This could be achieved without in any way detracting from the authenticity of the work.
And with Metalier everyone wins. The artist wins because the cost of the materials is so much less that he/she is able to put a higher value on their creativity. The artist also wins because more cities and towns will be able to afford their works – more money, more exposure, more commissions. The cities benefit because they pay so much less for great works of art.
Metalier benefits too, of course. The greatest thrill for us though is being involved in something so creative. We love artists.
If you are an artist, know one or just want to talk creatively to our team contact us here or complete the form below.
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Water-based Liquid Metal
Water-based liquid metal is leading edge.
Metalier is the world's leading manufacturer of our flexible and water-based liquid metal. Of course we have a solvent binder too, but the world is heading towards zero VOCs and green materials. With our water-based liquid metal binder Metalier is at the forefront of this development. Respecting our environment is very important to us.
Water-based liquid metal has many advantages
One of the advantages is that it actually smells pleasant. This is a great boon to applicators and finishers and their neighbours.
Another is that it dries so quickly. This allows for a speedier turnaround of work – important in this present age of immediacy.
It makes applications in situ much easier.
It has fewer ingredients than the solvent liquid metal system so there is less chance of errors.
With the water-based liquid metal binder you don’t need acetone, gun-cleaner, thinner or catalyst so it is much quicker to make a mixture.
It has a longer shelf-life than the solvent binder.
Water-based liquid metal is non-hazardous
Our dispatch department tells us that water-based liquid metal is a dream to freight around the world. There is no expensive Haz Mat documentation, no additional documentation fees, no off-loading by shipping companies or airlines. And it is so much cheaper to ship.
Auckland City refurbishment
When the Auckland City offices moved into a building formerly occupied by a bank, it was essential to remove the bank branding and replace it with its own. Part of the requirement was to coat lintels at the main doorways – a job that needed to be done in situ. Our custom-made metal, Gunmetal Bronze, a dark gun-metal grey, was chosen by the architects. A light-textured finish was rolled onto the lintels in situ. The resulting effect is fabulous and very New Zealand in flavour.
The health gurus keep telling us to drink more water. While we don’t want you to drink our water-based liquid metal we do want you to use it more and more. You’ll be pleased you did.
Contact us for more information and advice and to get your design crafted in Metalier.
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Distributeurs en Europe | Metalier Liquid Metal
At Metalier Liquid Metal we are excited to announce that our search for distributeurs en Europe, distributors in Europa has begun in earnest.
Representatives have been appointed in France and Belgium.
Check out our new page in French for contact with our agent in France, Alain Neplaz or telephone him on (33)6 07 66 80 88 or email him here.
Check out our new pages in French and Dutch for contact with our agent in Belgium, Moustafa Mokhtari, or telephone him on (32)499986019 or email him here.
It’s easy to get started with Metalier Liquid Metals in Europe.
Granlyn in the West Midlands UK is the hub for distributeurs en Europe.
Training Centre
Granlyn have set up a training centre in West Bromwich near Birmingham. There is easy access to Birmingham by train from London and it boasts an international airport too. So getting to training is easy. Contact Alison by telephone at (44) 121 588 7888 or Mob: (44) 7791 890459 or email her to check the current price for training and book your place.
We can’t recommend training too highly. In fact, we’ve just changed the labels on our products to include the warning that they are for use by trained applicators. It is possible, we concede, to teach yourself, but you will waste a lot of time and a lot of product. And if your New Year’s resolution was to take the stress out of your business, then training is a no-brainer. It makes economic sense too.
Technical Support
Granlyn offers technical support in your time zone. Granlyn have the application and finishing of the product down to a fine art. They have also completed prestigious projects. You can also still contact us for support at Head Office in New Zealand but practically we are likely to be in the Land of Nod when you need us most.
Start small and grow your business
Our European hub means that you can choose whether to begin as an applicator/applicateur and purchase small amounts from Granlyn or take the bigger step and order in bulk from HQ in NZ.
Flexibility
Above all we offer flexibility and assistance to get you started. And you’ll have fun while you learn. Laughing is one of the things we do best both here in NZ and in the UK.
Contact Alain, Moustafa, Alison, or Mary at HQ and join our team. Let's make the Metalier map as good as the picture.
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Thank you to all Metalier Distributors
Our Metalier Distributors create our success.
It’s holiday season and time to reflect on the amazing year we’ve had in 2014. And our success can be attributed first and foremost to our amazing Metalier Distributors.
First of our Metalier Distributors is Granlyn in the UK:
First on board and first to spread the word – Craig and Ali are great business people, great Metalier advocates and great friends. Thanks guys.
Second of the Metalier Distributors is Mettech in Brunei:
Yani and Wafi do fabulous work which they post regularly on Facebook. They are great friends too and the produce beautiful children as well as beautiful metal. The talent! Go Brunei.
And third we have Singapore:
Richard and his team have presented Metalier at a show in Singapore and got great feedback. They are poised to leap forward – we’re poised to see where they land!
Fourth of the Metalier Distributors is in Yekaterinburg in the Russian Federation: You won’t believe how long and how difficult it has been to get Metalier products into Russia. But now they are there and in the hands of a team that we know are going to be fabulous performers. Andrew’s tenacity has been amazing – I would have thrown my toys long before but Andrew has persisted. Thank you so much.
AND WE’RE TALKING TO:Indonesia, Thailand, the Middle East, India and Iran. And we have appointed “finders” in France and Belgium. We have had a phenomenal year. We are truly grateful.
Thank you Metalier Distributors! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you want to join the party contact us soon.
Happy holidays everyone from:
Mary, Ken, Will & Lizzi