KEBONY: TROPICAL WOOD FROM THE NORTH

NEWS FROM TIMBER RESEARCH AND TIMBER CONSTRUCTION

When the Beatles sang about Norwegian wood with its excellent calorific value to the sounds of George Harrison’s Indian sitar in 1965 (‘Doesn’t it burn good? – Norwegian Wood’), the search for a process to permanently harden softwood had already been going on in North America for around fifteen years. Wood preservatives made from polyglycols were tried, plastic moulding compounds were applied to the wood and furfuryl alcohol was already available: even back then, the high-percentage clear alcohol caused the cellulose to swell in the wood as desired. The transformation of the alcoholic wood tissue into resins and polymers caused by subsequent heating also had the intended effect. Unfortunately, however, not without destroying the wood tissue.

IN SERIES FROM STYRIA

It was not until the end of the 1990s that the Canadian-Swedish research team Marc Schneider and Mats Westin discovered a gentle and practicable large-scale curing process in which some organic substances added to the alcohol prevent tissue destruction. After extensive testing, refinement and patenting of the process, it took another few years before series production of Kebony could begin in Skien in 2009. The town of 50,000 inhabitants in the province of Telemark, around 180 kilometres south of Oslo, is home not only to the factory but also to the associated Kebony research and technology centre.

NORDIC WEATHER DOESN’T FAZE KEBONY

The fully biologically cured wood from various pine species is currently available in the Kebony Clear (knotless and plain) and Kebony Character (knotty and rustic) variants. In both forms, the wood from the far north has rapidly established itself as the ideal tropical wood alternative: it is durable and so resistant that the manufacturer’s guarantee against wood-destroying fungal infestation lasts 30 years – properties that are not only highly welcome in the harsh Scandinavian climate.

LIVING, PROMENADING, SAILING

Accordingly, Kebony is often and gladly laid and installed where wind and weather are the order of the day: on terraces and roofs, around pools and windows and on façades as well as on yacht decks, jetties, promenades and bridges. This in no way means that Kebony does not know how to please indoors as well, for example in shop and restaurant construction. It has also proven its worth as furniture wood and as a supplier of designer pieces such as wooden cutlery.

The extraordinary combination of robustness and grace is now increasingly a reason to use Kebony in municipal parks and facilities. Such as in the Sørenga harbour pool in Oslo, the largest Kebony project to date in terms of surface area. Even the furniture integrated into the structure of the deck there is made of Kebony.

KEBONY MAKES WAVES

Kebony has also attracted attention in architectural circles as an interesting façade material with several unusual architectural masterpieces. An archive building in Stavanger presents itself with an origami-like folded structure, while a retreat in Fleinvæer is clad in fish scales. In Oslo, the outer shell of a restaurant creates waves, while a power station in Kebony’s dress merges unobtrusively with its surroundings. Whether Kebony’s appearance is spectacular or subtle, it is always an ecological signal, for example with clay, which will be discussed later.

WITH A CLEAR ECOLOGICAL CONSCIENCE

This is because Kebony is not only lightweight, dimensionally stable and non-toxic, but also sustainable: Kebony does not require the clearing of rainforests or the transport of wood from South America or Asia. The sustainability of production even extends to the furfuryl alcohol, which is distilled from organic residues from maize and sugar production. In Austria, too, Kebony is gradually becoming the first choice for anyone who wants to work with woods with tropical properties with a clear ecological conscience. They find what they are looking for at Mareiner – the only licence partner for Kebony, which has now also been hardened in another plant in Kallo near Antwerp in Belgium for two years. From there, the boards are shipped in bulk to Upper Styria to be customised and oiled as required.

KEBONY – FOR THE FUTURE MADE OF WOOD

• The advantages of Kebony: kebony.com
• Durability, hardness & maximum mobility – the performance of Kebony