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The Challenge
Brent Lambrichs is the owner of BL Carpentry Services, a Perth-based business with more than 15 years’ experience in carpentry. Over the past 7–10 years, Brent has specialised in premium outdoor living spaces for private homeowners, with BL Carpentry Services catering to higher-end and architecturally designed homes along Perth’s western coastal strip.
These homeowners want more than basic shelter. They are investing in large, beautifully detailed outdoor entertaining areas that function as true extensions of the homes. They want spaces where they can host friends, relax with family, and enjoy the coastal climate without compromising on comfort or aesthetics.
Standard metal patio roofs, exposed framing and bulky light fittings no longer meet the expectations or property values in these areas.
Climate is a major factor. Perth is known for scorching, dry summers with repeated 40°C days. Under a conventional single-skin metal roof, patios can become “hot boxes”, radiating heat and making the area uncomfortable during the afternoon and early evening—precisely when people want to be outside.
“Clients want to be able to sit outdoors at three or four o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, have a drink, and entertain without being blasted by radiant heat from above,” Brent said.
Clients are also looking for outdoor areas that feel as refined as internal spaces. This means smooth, ceiling-like finishes; integrated flush downlights; ceiling fans; feature LED lighting; and, in some cases, heaters. The structure must also visually tie in with the home’s architecture, matching or elevating the internal standard of finish and enhancing overall property value.
The challenge for Brent Lambrichs and BL Carpentry Services is to deliver outdoor structures that satisfy demanding homeowners on three fronts at once: thermal comfort in extreme dry heat, premium aesthetics consistent with high-value homes, and functional flexibility that allows for integrated services and everyday usability.
Photos: Brent Lambrichs
The Solution
To meet these requirements, BL Carpentry Services has moved almost all patio and pergola projects to Bondor’s SolarSpan® insulated roofing panels.
“Almost every single one of our patios is a SolarSpan® roof sheet… it’s a quality material,” Brent said.
SolarSpan® combines roofing, insulation and an internal ceiling underside in a single panel, giving Brent an all‑in‑one solution:
“By the time you were to build a patio, put a roof sheet on the top, insulate it, and then do ceiling lining, I can just buy a Bondor SolarSpan® panel. It’s all in one and it’s just super-efficient,” he said.
From a build perspective, SolarSpan® simplifies construction. Brent calculates spans, overhangs and cutbacks, orders panels to length, and his crew prepares the ends on site before lifting them into place, resting them on the beams and fixing them together.
Most projects can be sheeted within a day, with flashing and gutters typically completed over another day. Even on larger jobs with panels around six metres long the four-person team can handle the panels without routinely needing cranes.
Thermally, SolarSpan® tackles the “hot box” issue common under traditional roofs in Perth’s 40°C summers. The insulated core (minimum 50 mm) reduces heat transfer, lowering the temperature under the pergola.
“If you put a standard roof sheet on, it gets very, very hot underneath; when you use SolarSpan® panels instead, the insulated core really helps bring the temperature down,” Brent said.
Aesthetics and functionality are just as important. The clean underside of the panel allows BL Carpentry Services to install flush downlights, fans, heaters and feature LEDs while keeping a smooth, ceiling-like finish.
Brent is also developing a side brand focused on cantilever pergola, intended as premium structures with posts only at the rear, allowing the roof to project forward with a clean, post‑free front edge.
For this concept, he plans to use insulated SolarSpan® panels as the primary roofing element, as they provide the strength, thermal performance and sleek underside finish needed at the very top end of the market.
This approach showcases SolarSpan® not just as a roofing panel, but as a key enabler of high‑impact, architectural outdoor design.
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