design concierge
Durable Outdoor Furniture
Your Guide
The materials behind FrancoCrea's outdoor collections
Designing for the outdoors in Australia demands more than aesthetic consideration. It demands an honest reckoning with climate, coastal conditions, and the kind of daily life that unfolds in great Australian homes. At FrancoCrea, every material we select for our outdoor collections has earned its place. Chosen not for the trend, but for the quiet confidence it gives the people who live with it.
Textured Powder-coat Finishes
Our robust metal outdoor pieces are finished in super-durable polyester thermosetting textured powder-coat. A technology that has advanced considerably and now represents the benchmark for outdoor metal finishing.
These textured finishes offer exceptional resistance to sun, chlorine, salt, and the general demands of outdoor living. High-performing pigments ensure colour retention under direct sun exposure without fading, while salt and chlorine-resistant formulations make these finishes appropriate for coastal properties up to ten metres from high tide. The tonal palette is drawn from the Australian landscape, understated, considered, and designed to sit comfortably within both garden and architectural settings.
Fabric & Foams
The outdoor fabrics selected for FrancoCrea pieces are engineered materials in the truest sense. Purpose-built to resist UV exposure, moisture, staining, mildew, while offering a softness and natural handle that belies their technical construction. Recent advances in outdoor yarn technology mean these fabrics now bring an interior-grade quality of touch to exterior spaces.
The best-performing fabrics are woven from solution-dyed acrylic or olefin fibres, where colour is integral to the yarn itself rather than applied to the surface. This ensures lasting depth and tone through seasons of sun and rain. Outdoor vinyls of note carry a high PVC content for effortless maintenance and long-term resilience.
Fabrics alone do not complete the picture. All FrancoCrea outdoor upholstery is paired with reticulated open-cell foam, engineered to allow water to drain freely and cushions to dry quickly without compromising shape, comfort, or structural integrity over time. It is an unseen detail that ensures a piece performs exactly as it looks.
Corian
Few materials carry the pedigree of Corian. First introduced in 1967 and continuously refined since, it remains one of the most intelligently engineered surfaces. A material that rewards its owners over decades, not seasons.
Aesthetically, Corian is beautiful with stone-like weight and flecks. Colour and pattern run through the full depth of the material, meaning there is nothing to wear away or delaminate over time. Its non-porous composition prevents moisture from penetrating the surface, eliminating any risk of rot, mould, or bacterial growth. A meaningful consideration in Australia's more humid coastal environments. Composed of one-third resin and two-thirds natural minerals, predominantly bauxite and aluminum compounds, Corian holds GREENGUARD gold certification and is nontoxic, nonallergenic, and environmentally responsible.
It also carries a 10-year material guarantee, and should the surface ever require attention, it can be rebuffed at home every five years to restore it to its original condition. For those who invest in furniture designed to outlast trends, few materials offer comparable long-term value.
Come touch and feel our outdoor materials
Our studio showrooms in Melbourne and Adelaide provide a no obligation opportunity to see materials in person, ask what you've been wondering, and understand what considered design actually feels like to live with.