108 | Best door a masterpiece of modern joinery The door was design-detailed by Robert and handcrafted by Grandvue Joinery, a process that took many hours, to create one of the most striking and possibly most complex residential timber doors in New Zealand. JOINERY Grandvue Joinery T T Russell Fredric On the face of it, winning the 2023 Master Joiners Best Door and Best Use of an Imported Timber awards might not seem a particularly high accolade. However, in the case of the weaved timber door that garnered the award, the “angel” is in the detail and points to the artisan-level craftsmanship and design innovation that Grandvue Joinery has built its reputation on over many decades. Based in Waitakere, the joinery company is owned by Robert Piacun who could have retired a long time ago. He describes his work as a long-held passion and the award-winning door is no exception in reflecting this. The door was design-detailed by Robert and handcrafted by Grandvue Joinery, a process that took many hours, to create one of the most striking and possibly most complex residential timber doors in New Zealand. A double-sided woven door panel with glass which is sandwiched between the timber, the door was made using hand selected Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification supplied imported rosewood heart timber. It is mounted on a soft close, hold open, invisible Frits Jurgens pivot which allows a seamless appearance from both sides. The door was designed using 3D CAD showing several selections of panels with different daylight sizes of the apertures. Samples were made to show the look of a corner and various daylight apertures for final approval by the client. “Having constructed the door in a CAD drawing process made the build easier,” Robert says. “After figuring out how the door is to be constructed and supplying drawings of each component, the assembly could be worked out. This was a much-considered design.” A major challenge was how to accomplish construction where a trellis system was “After figuring out how the door is to be constructed and supplying drawings of each component, the assembly could be worked out.” formed in a half-checked method having heights of the cross-checking varying, higher and lower, and following the wave form so when the wave was cut the cross of timbers had a hidden central half-check. Full size paper printout templates were used from the CAD drawings so the side elevation of the timber patterns could easily be made to mark the wave for band sawing and to make a jig to spindle mould smooth and fine sand on a spindle bobbin sanding head. The back of each panel was then epoxy seal coated before gluing to 10mm toughened glass using a combination of 3M double sided tape and urethane. Robert describes the overall complexity and level of detail as 9.9 out of 10. “It was very labour intensive and took a lot of thought.” While the aesthetics are the standout feature, a practical consideration was designing it to be watertight. This was tested during Cyclone Gabrielle where it was proven to be successful, and Robert’s confidence in his design has been endorsed with his other bespoke pivot doors sited in more exposed positions that have also proven watertight. Some projects undertaken by Grandvue Joinery have necessitated Robert to design custom engineered bespoke hardware elements that have themselves required considerable out-of-the -box thinking. For this area of manufacturing specialisation, the joinery company has collaborated with Avondale firm Advanced Engineering Services which specialises in design, and manufacturing, marketing their hardware systems, supplying quality door and window hardware solutions to architects, door and window manufacturers, joinery and construction firms, a firm Robert has high regard for. With Robert’s penchant for intricate design and with the support of his skilled staff, over the years Grandvue Joinery has completed bespoke work for some of New Zealand’s most preeminent architects who have themselves created homes of outstanding architectural merit. It’s more a labour of love. You just love to see something working that is so unique.” AES manufacturers of Zebratti Hardware Proudly Supporting Grandvue Joinery +64 9 828 9664 | +64 27 415 2111 www.aesparts.co.nz | www.zebratti.com 31-33 Timothy Pl, Avondale, Auckland 1026, New Zealand + 64 9 828 9664 | +64 415 2111 www.aesparts.co.nz | www.zebratti.com 31-33 Timothy Pl, Avondale, Auckland 1026, New Zealand MARK LINDSAY +64 21 831 021 | mark@mlcc.co.nz www.mlcc.co.nz
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