Special 3D wood on the wall

REVIVAL OF THE RELIEF

EVEN 3D WOOD PRINTS ARE NO LONGER A WILD DREAM

Bart Van Herreweghe (Product-Proof - B)

‘Working with relief has become all the rage with burned wood.’

Bart Van Herreweghe is the manager of Product-Proof, a company we’ve mentioned elsewhere in this magazine. With its burned wood, Shou Shugi Ban, and the soon to be launched EuroSugi, this company is meeting the demand for burned wood for every possible use both in and outdoors. Mr Van Herreweghe has also noticed a clear tendency to use this burned wood as 3D wall furnishing.

Mr Van Herreweghe comments: ‘Roasting gives you a 3D effect in any case, and clients are picking that up in interior design. What it boils down to is that you always get more or less relief when you burn the wood. This creates a “charcoal” layer on the surface, which is given a finish so that no black particles are emitted.’

‘The type of relief depends mainly on the sort of wood which you burn. For instance, wood sorts such as douglas or larch soon give you relief if you brush them after the burning. Other wood sorts such as the very popular thermowood ayous stay a lot flatter after brushing, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any relief at all. If you run your hand over the surface, you can feel this clearly and something like this satisfies the modern yearning for “caressability” of a material.’

Two important aspects

‘It’s important to remember that burned wood is all about two aspects. On the one hand, you have the burned, natural, and black effect and, on the other hand, there’s the brushed product in every possible variant which can be coloured. The options are infinite and that appeals to people.’

Since the proof of the pudding is in the eating, Mr Van Herreweghe illustrates the above with some recent projects. For instance, recently there was a project by a well known architect in Deurle (B), a perfect example of a flat brushed surface.

Mainly in the upper segment

‘This project illustrates the use of burned wood as 3D wall furnishing perfectly and also indicates how it often occurs in the middle to upper segments of the market. This architect, Benoit Viaene, used special thermowood ayous, washed and waxed it, and the end result was used as furnishing for a lounge with a bar and open hearth.’

‘We find an example of a brushed surface with much more relief in the furnishing of a food truck. Here De Vitrinair (Gregg Van Malderen) worked together with the client with burned and subsequently brushed larch wood, which was rounded off with a waterproof treatment. In that connection I can also mention a project by AD Bouwteam at Chocolaterie Dossche in De Pinte (Belgium). They worked with accoya, both indoors and outside, and finished the medium burned wood with Rubio Monocoat Sealer 707 Matt Black.’

‘There might possibly be a major project shortly for the Japanese architect Terunobu Fujimori, whom you can call the father of Yaki Sugi in some respects. Fujimori contacted us for an initial project with burned wood which he has in Belgium, in Terhulpen, but we don’t have any more details as yet. However, you can certainly assume that it’ll be about the use of natural objects in 3D.’

How does Bart Van Herreweghe see this 3D wall furnishing market developing? ‘It’s obvious that it’ll continue to grow because it fits in so well with the spirit of the age. People long for unique and original items which are as natural as possible and burned wood fits in perfectly. We certainly find that demand is still growing and I’m expecting things to stay that way for some time.’

People have hung wood on the wall for centuries. Who doesn’t remember the classic ‘boards’, which adorned the wall mainly in grandma and grandpa’s house? Fitting wood on the wall had fallen into disuse in recent decades, but in the last few years it has come back into fashion. It’s not the same as it was in the past, but we are now seeing the use of wood in all its facets, literally in three dimensions.

Applying specific highlights

Home owners are making a statement with these 3D walls. In some respects you can regard this statement as an extended use to highlight one wall literally with paint, something which, amongst other things, was in fashion in bedrooms for some time. The reason for such an operation is obvious: You keep most of the wall modest, but apply specific highlights. In our case we use wood, but that certainly doesn’t mean that wood is the only material used for this purpose. For instance, 3D wallpaper in particular is proving just as popular.

The use of wood in the interior is no more or no less than a normal development in times when natural elements are becoming increasingly important. We’re going back to what is real, but at the same time we like to keep it as durable as possible. There’s a wide choice on the market, ranging from what is literally customised to pre-fabricated wall furnishing and wall panels, which can be fitted on a wall without causing any damage. Even waterproof covering is possible, although in that case it’s much more a question of a 3D effect rather than real relief. As regards types of wood, the range is actually limited only by one’s own taste. Most wood sorts are possible and there is now increasing attention to upgraded wood which might or might not be treated and is given a protective coat.

#ShouSugiBan #BlackWood #BoisBrûlé #Yakisugi #BurnedWood #GebrandHout

Product-Proof bv

Dendermondsesteenweg 120 B-9260 Wichelen

Tel. +32 (479) 022224 info@yakisugi.black www.yakisugi.black

3D wood prints

To give a completely full picture, we mention one more development which we found at the Dutch company Material District. This is a matchmaking platform in the field of innovative materials and it targets various building professionals. They say it’s now even possible to print 3D elements in wood!

The American start-up Forust appears to have developed a method for printing 3D with sawdust so that the look and feel of the end result are very similar to the real material. Via this method they are responding to growing ecological awareness and aiming for a greener future where raw materials are used as efficiently as possible. In this case you reverse the traditional woodwork order by using the several million tonnes of waste wood created each year in the form of sawdust. So far, that waste wood has been processed into pellets, for instance, or simply burnt, but the latter emits large amounts of CO² into the atmosphere.

American start-up Forust

Forust has developed a method of joining up sawdust and lignin, a waste product in paper production, and thereby printing in 3D. In this way they ‘connect’ wood digitally, complete with the grains found in natural wood. The created end product can then be sanded just like real wood and its strength is comparable to that of the natural material.

According to this start-up, this technology makes it possible to print virtually any sort of wood, from ash to zebrano and from ebony to mahogany. Since the sections are formed layer by layer without the need for a base, it is possible to create products which are complex or even impossible to make using classic woodwork methods. Finally, they say you can crush the items again after use and re-use them ad infinitum.

You will find more information on the web site: www.forust.com.

Photo – Product-Proof