LAHOFER WINERY
Ondřej Chybík and Michal Krištof designed the visitor centre of the Lahofer Winery with an undulating roof that mirrors the countryside of Moravia in the Czech Re- public. The cladding of the building and its curved terrace use thermally treated Lunawood which, the architects say, stands up well to the local climate while blending naturally with the surrounding vineyard. Lahofer Winery has won numerous international awards and was among the ten finalists in the Building of the Year competition 2021 on the world’s most visited architecture website, ArchDaily.
to moisture, fire and soft rot. They also seek to reduce expansion and contraction due to changes in humidity. All this is done without hazardous chemicals. “By heat and steam treatment, we produce a finished product that contains no chemical residues. It is ready for use, indoors and out, under all climatic conditions anywhere in the world.” On the south side of the Gulf of Finland, in Esto- nia, Puidukoda is another company with an advanced, open-minded attitude to treating wood. “Our most important product is exterior and interior paneling. We focus on painted or otherwise specially treat- ed products,” says Puidukoda CEO Eveli Opmann . Puidukoda sells all its paint-coated products under its Woodmood brand. “Paint-coated products currently account for roughly 15 per cent of our sales. We only use water-soluble paints, and all our painted products come with a ten-year warranty. We worked with our paint supplier to create installation and maintenance instructions that help protect the coat of paint.” Puidukoda sells a wide variety of different painted sur- faces, wood tones and textures. Like Puidukoda, Luna wood has also focused on product development. “In designing the Lunawood product range, we used Scandinavian design skills. Our products show how ver- satile thermowood is in both outdoor and indoor use, and inspire architects and designers,” says Masalin. Lunawood and Puidukoda both have strict material requirements and will only use sound-knotted Nordic softwood. “This is very much a raw material business. Thermal treatment at a very high temperature requires the world’s best wood, carefully selected, to achieve a high visual and technical standard in the finished product,” Masalin ex- plains. Metsä Fibre provides Lunawood with pine and spruce sawn timber from its many sawmills. Lunawood wants to know the exact origin of the wood. “We favour local wood. Logs travel an average 235 kilo- metres to our mills, and we can tell this to our customers with confidence. PEFC™ certification is also important to
us. Trustworthy material suppliers are vital to our oper- ation.”
SAFE AND HEALTHY Wood is becoming increasingly common in interior clad- ding. Manufacturers can provide a wide variety of pan- els and battens of different widths, which can be either pre-treated or untreated. “Wood that is as natural as possible is currently popular especially in interior paneling. Another strong trend is the use of narrow battens on walls and ceilings. This is something we can see in all our global marketing channels. I am looking forward to the day when wide panels come back into fashion,” says Masalin. Consumers and designers alike have many conceptions and opinions about the health benefits of wood. Today, there is a great deal of research available on the subject. In Austria, a one-year study compared wood-paneled classrooms to others without. The results showed that in a classroom with wooden paneling, the students’ early morning stress levels fell soon after arriving in school, and the levels did not spike, unlike in regular classrooms. Heart rates were also more relaxed and the stress level in classes was reduced.* With the right treatment, wooden surfaces breathe and help to balance out temperatures and moisture, which improves the quality of interior air. In general, wooden surfaces are seen to have a calming and pleasant influence. “Wood activates all the senses when it is used for indoor cladding. It has a strong influence on what people see, feel, smell and experience. Properly used, wood can have an impact on human wellbeing and make the cityscape more enjoyable,” says Masalin. SOLUTIONS TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES Another benefit to wood refining companies is from glob- al awareness of sustainability, which is now influencing consumer preferences. “People have begun to understand what it means for wood products to be a carbon store for their entire life- cycle. Other factors apart from just price are beginning
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* Source: Institute for Health Technology and Prevention Research.
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