There are few better markers of where residential design is heading than The James Hardie Modern Homes Forecast, and this year RMS Traders is proud to be featured in it. It’s a natural fit. The Forecast is built around homes designed to endure, pairing the trusted protection and long-lasting beauty of Hardie™ fibre cement with materials chosen to stand the test of time. Our natural stone sits comfortably in that company.
You’ll find us throughout the Get the Look pages of the Design Handbooks, where our stone appears alongside the James Hardie exterior across all eight Modern Looks.
About The James Hardie Modern Homes Forecast
The James Hardie Modern Homes Forecast 2026 is the third annual research report created to inspire homeowners and trade professionals with the latest modern home design styles. It’s also the most future-focused edition to date. James Hardie commissioned the research with WGSN, an independently owned global trend forecasting company, drawing on WGSN’s STEPIC framework (Society, Technology, Environment, Politics, Industry and Creativity) and on-the-ground insights from Milan Design Week to translate global design signals and local consumer data into a forward-looking view of Australian housing.
From that research come four lifestyle themes shaping how we live: Creative Living, homes as expressive sanctuaries; Evolved Living, a more intentional homeowner who prioritises better rather than bigger; Multigenerational Living, flexible spaces that balance privacy with connection; and Autonomous Living, self-sufficient, low-maintenance homes that restore calm. Two threads run through all four, climate-readiness and value defined by what lasts, and both are exactly where our stone and the James Hardie exterior earn their place.
How James Hardie and RMS work together
At the heart of this partnership is a simple idea: the right exterior and the right stone make each other better. Hardie™ fibre cement brings contemporary clean lines, design versatility and trusted protection to the facade. Engineered to endure, it resists fire, rot, moisture and termite damage, stays low maintenance and easy to clean, and is proudly Australian-made and designed for Australian conditions. Our natural stone brings the organic counterpoint: texture, depth and a sense of permanence that a manufactured surface can’t replicate.
Put simply, the vertical grooves of Axon™ Cladding pair beautifully with the natural texture of RMS stone, creating a contemporary facade that balances architectural precision with organic warmth. It’s a pairing of engineered durability and natural longevity, two materials built to last,
The eight Modern Looks, and the stone to match
Modern Classical by James Hardie
Modern Classical reimagines European elegance with softer curves and a warm, resort-like palette. James Hardie shapes its signature curved wall in Stria™ Cladding Fine Texture 325mm, grounded by Hardie™ Brushed Concrete Cladding and Matrix™ Cladding on the lower level. We’d pair that structured softness with the warmth of travertine or limestone underfoot, tactile, tonal and timeless enough to age gracefully alongside the render.
Box Modern by James Hardie
Box Modern turns clean cubic volumes into a blank canvas for colour and personality. Here James Hardie contrasts Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding above with horizontal Stria™ Cladding Fine Texture 325mm below to define the form. Against that crisp, low-maintenance base, a grounded bluestone paver or a clean limestone landscape brings weight and natural texture, letting the architecture stay bold while the ground plane feels calm and enduring.
Modern Farmhouse by James Hardie
Modern Farmhouse balances rustic warmth with resilient, resource-smart design. James Hardie reimagines board and batten in Stria™ Cladding Fine Texture 325mm with Hardie™ Axent™ Trim, paired with Axon™ Cladding 133mm Smooth for a clean contemporary counterpoint. The handbook calls for stone and timber accents to bring natural warmth, and this is where our natural stone wall cladding does its best work, adding grain-rich, hard-wearing texture that feels grounded and built for everyday life.
Modern Heritage by James Hardie
Modern Heritage layers old-world character at the front with sensorial richness at the rear. Linea™ Weatherboard defines the heritage facade, while a bold double-storey extension uses Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding above vertical Hardie™ Oblique™ Cladding 300mm. To honour the interplay of marble, tile and natural materials the style celebrates, we’d bring in marble or a richly veined stone cladding, deepening the tactile, storied quality of the design.
Barn by James Hardie
The 2026 Barn is bold, immersive and soothing, its strong gable form accentuated by the linear grooves of Axon™ Cladding 133mm Smooth, with Hardie™ Brushed Concrete Cladding and Hardie™ Axent™ Trim grounding the lower level. It’s a monochromatic palette drawn from nature, and natural stone completes it beautifully. A grounded bluestone base or textural stone wall cladding reinforces the restorative, earthy character while standing up to the elements for decades.
Mid-Century Modern by James Hardie
Mid-Century Modern is playful and layered, with a Matrix™ Cladding mural framed by crisp Axon™ Cladding 133mm Smooth and a Stria™ Cladding Smooth 325mm fascia. The style’s interiors call explicitly for natural stone alongside textured glass and colour accents, so this is a natural home for a characterful travertine or feature stone, adding warmth and depth that balance the geometry and the pops of colour.
Modern Coastal by James Hardie
Modern Coastal takes the calm of seaside living into any location, clad in Linea™ Weatherboard and Axon™ Cladding 133mm Smooth with warm pastel and citrus accents. For the easy indoor-outdoor flow the look is built around, a soft limestone or honed travertine paver carries the light, breezy palette from inside to the courtyard, low-key, low-maintenance and quietly luxurious.
Japandi by James Hardie
Japandi is a style of quiet intelligence, where every choice is intentional and materials are chosen for durability and tactile simplicity. Vertical Axon™ Cladding 133mm Smooth grounds the home in its greenery, with Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding lining a serene wellness courtyard. A calm, honed limestone in earthy greys and warm neutrals suits it perfectly, crafted, enduring and restorative, exactly the harmony Japandi is reaching for.
Built to last, and better for the planet
Across all eight looks, the through-line is longevity. James Hardie fibre cement is engineered to endure and comes with genuine environmental credentials: a range of Hardie™ products, including Hardie™ Oblique™ Cladding, Linea™ Weatherboard and Stria™ Cladding Fine Texture, are GreenRate™ Level A certified, and the Australian-made range supports 7-star energy outcomes and shorter, lower-emission supply chains.
Our natural stone tells the same story from the ground up. Stone is one of the most enduring materials on earth: hard-wearing, weather-resistant and built to handle decades of Australian conditions without losing its character. Most of our pavers are designed to last a lifetime, which keeps the replacement cycle to a minimum and contributes far less to landfill than mass-produced alternatives. It also has a naturally low impact in use, with no toxic emissions and no need for harsh chemicals to stay looking its best.
That commitment runs right through RMS Traders. We’re proud to be Climate Positive, offsetting the emissions from our staff, travel, energy and products, in part through our own forest, so every purchase helps fund carbon-reduction projects. Our crates and packaging are purpose-designed to be reusable, and we source ethically from trusted quarries worldwide, including a firm decision never to stock or resell river pebbles, which are taken from riverbeds in a way we don’t consider responsible. For the intentional homeowner The James Hardie Modern Homes Forecast describes, the one who wants better, not more, that combination of enduring beauty and low-impact thinking is exactly the point.
Explore the Design Handbooks
The James Hardie Modern Homes Forecast 2026 Design Handbooks are your go-to guides for bringing modern home design to life, complete with floor plans, exterior and interior design elements and landscaping guidance. See us featured throughout the Get the Look pages, and when you’re ready to translate inspiration into reality, our team is here to help you choose stone that’s beautiful today and built to last a lifetime.
