Timber cladding is a versatile construction element that can be used both indoors and outdoors. It is a textured, natural material that makes a strong aesthetic statement for sustainability. For exterior envelopes, high quality cladding products must also be durable and weatherproof, in even the most demanding climatic conditions. Manufacturers worldwide produce cladding products in a variety of profiles and surface finishes for any project type. These are ten of Archello’s most popular wood cladding products specified by architects and designers in the past year.
1. Benchmark Thermo-Ash by Thermory
Manufactured in Estonia by sauna-material leader Thermory, Benchmark Thermo-Ash cladding is durable, made for simple installation and easy to maintain. Thermory’s Thermo-Ash is produced in a range of profiles and shingle types. It meets the highest available durability class, and is dimensionally stable and knotless with a rich, deep tone. The product line includes connection profiles that do not leave any fixings visible. Its thermally modified wood products are natural and free of chemicals.
2. Vulcan Cladding by Abodo
Modern, clean lines define the Vulcan Cladding product by Abodo. The series is created from thermally modified New Zealand plantation timber for superior beauty, durability and weathering characteristics. Vulcan Cladding is offered in 12 colors, and is marketed as a renewable alternative to Western Red Cedar timber cladding. Various profiles are available, such as vertical shiplap and bevel back. Abodo crafts timbers that are safe for people and the environment, harvested from New Zealand FSC® certified rapidly renewable forests.
3. Trespa ® Meteon® by Trespa
Trespa® Meteon® panels are targeted for use in innovative and functional ventilated facade systems. The product is a decorative high-pressure compact laminate with an integral surface. It is manufactured using a unique in-house technology, called Electron Beam Curing, by which a blend of up to 70% wood-based fibers and thermosetting resins are produced under high pressures and temperatures to yield highly stable, dense panels with good strength-to-weight ratios. The panels are available in a range of standard and custom colors.
4. Vulcan Screening by Abodo
Manufactured in New Zealand and engineered from thermally modified plantation timber with a unique vertical grain, Abodo’s Vulcan Screening is a high performance natural exterior timber. The thermal modification process combined with lamination offers enhanced stability, reduced resin content and homogenous colors in 11 shades of brown. Designed to weather well with time, Vulcan Screening is available in a number of profiles suitable for batten, rainscreens and louvers. It is also a strong choice for applications such as joinery, pergola, screening, facade fins and balustrade in-fills.
5. Cladding by Accoya
Accoya wood cladding is known for its dimensional stability, and its acetylation properties to prevent pests from damaging its surfaces and ruining the aesthetics of the structure. It is a wood that boasts green credentials that exceed tropical hardwoods, and is sourced from FSC® certified and sustainable forests. It has been used as cladding on projects such as the Ark Encounter, a 510ft by 80ft historical theme attraction that is among the largest free standing timber structures in the world.
6. Benchmark Thermo-Pine by Thermory
Benchmark Thermo-Pine is a softwood cladding that has undergone thermal modifications to make the pine more durable and stable while emphasizing its warm golden-brown color and characteristic knot pattern, without the use of chemicals. The product line is offered in a range of profiles, including those that allow for hidden fixing. Thermo-Pine cladding is an unoiled product that comes in smooth, brushed finishes for use in both exterior and interior applications.
7. Gendai with Linseed Oil Black by Nakamoto Forestry
Gendai with Linseed Oil BLACK, by Japan-based Nakamoto Forestry, is a product that comes with a factory oil finish, delivered ready to install. Yakisugi is a traditional Japanese method of wood preservation to achieve burnt timber cladding. Also known as “shou sugi ban”, the process of producing this cladding includes lightly brushing off the top layer of delicate soot - leaving a smooth, consistent, and dark surface. Oil finishes can be applied to achieve the desired color, offer better color longevity and to bond in surface soot. The product is suitable for exterior applications.
8. Suyaki - Exterior with Tung Oil Black by Nakamoto Forestry
This is a burnt timber cladding with an original and unbrushed charred surface. Yakisugi, a process for preservation, gives it a leathery texture with longevity and a unique black color. This product is factory finished with a traditional tung oil for easier handling, less soot layer blemishing during installation and an even tone. It is delivered ready to install, and touchup oil for end cuts, notches and rips is included with each order.
9. NobelWood® by Foreco
Foreco’s NobelWood® is an award-winning alternative to tropical hardwood cladding. Foreco combines wood modification with biopolymers produced from agricultural crop waste, and a weather resistant fire retardant treatment. The NobelWood product is made using fast growing softwood pine sourced in sustainably managed forests, treated with new modification techniques. The wood products can be used for cladding and other exterior applications. Products are available in a range of standard sizes and profiles that can be supplied machined to specified dimensions and patterns, or as solid sections to be machined as required.
10. Lunawood Cladding by Lunawood
Finland-based Lunawood is a pioneer and global market leader of sustainable wood solutions. Its Thermowood product is a thermally-modified cladding with dimensional stability, weather resistance and durability. It is also resin-free and made without chemicals. Thermowood does not require surface coatings even in the most challenging climate conditions, making it more sustainable over its life cycle than many comparable products. The raw material for Thermowood products comes from renewable and certified Scandinavian pine and spruce forests.
