First off, we have the Hotel Rotterdam Airport. This is a special project in a special location, as it is not often that you get to build right next door to Rotterdam Airport. Accoya was chosen by both the contractor and the architects as the perfect material to use for cladding. The most important aspect of the wood was its need to be fire-resistant as well as durable, stable, and sustainable.

The underlying idea in the age we now live in is to construct safe buildings by adhering to the strict criteria that go with it. Let’s not forget the emphasis on sustainability, which is becoming increasingly important. For this project, the aspect of sustainability in connection with the environment and the surroundings is not only represented by the Accoya façade cladding but also by the plants that decorate it. In this way, all parts of the building have contributed towards creating a beautiful, stable, sustainable hotel that gives its guests a warm welcome.

Accoya was chosen for the material used for the Olive Seymour Boardwalk located at Herdsman Lake Regional Park. As a result of the previous boardwalk made using Jarrah rotting, Accoya wood was used to replace decking boards, handrails, and joists.

The RHS embarked on ambitious plans to realise their fifth garden—a 154-acre site in the former Worsley New Hall grounds, on the outskirts of Salford. White Cottage Greenhouses were commissioned to design, manufacture, and install two large mono-pitch lean-to glasshouses in the new Paradise Garden, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith. The garden was created within a heritage landscape and is the first RHS garden in the North West of England’s climatic and ecological conditions.

White Cottage has been successfully manufacturing painted-timber greenhouses for many years. Their ethos has always been to create a genuine timber-framed greenhouse while minimising maintenance and decay risk. This made them the perfect fit for this project.

Over the last five years, White Cottage has shifted entirely over to Accoya wood, and so there was no other material choice for the Paradise Garden superstructures. With Accoya, excessive movement in tongue and groove boards is eliminated, meaning cracks in paint are far less likely to occur. There are time savings in the joinery manufacturing process, fewer defects such as knots, and better performance all around, as well as outstanding, guaranteed durability.

A key feature of Accoya is that the coatings will last longer than on other timber products. White Cottage believes that Accoya is easier to paint and requires less preparation than other timber alternatives.

The uniquely designed piece of public artwork, Please Be Seated, was made from 1440 planks of Accoya timber and designed by London-based designers, Paul Cocksedge Studio. Accoya is a fantastic timber to use for sculptures such as this one due to its high performance, yet what is particularly outstanding is that you don’t need to sacrifice performance for non-sustainable timber. A key benefit of making Accoya the material of choice is the Cradle to Cradle Gold Certification. This recognises that Accoya is fully circular, with no added synthetic materials, fully recyclable, and non-toxic. The Accoya planks are supported by a framework of bent steel designed to be easily assembled and disassembled for travel.

The structure was fabricated in partnership with UAP, and the Accoya was sourced and supplied by a local Accoya-approved distributor, Jiangsu Dragon Wood (JDW). Paul Cocksedge Studio worked with JDW to complete and install, managing the entire process remotely as a result of COVID restrictions.

The Belgian Kalmthoutse Heide park has gained a valuable landmark: a new 42-metre-high fire watchtower. Architect NOHNIK and construction partners Bureau Bouwtechniek and Ingenieursbureau ABT Belgi created an elegant truss structure by perfectly combining wood and steel. From every angle, the fire watchtower offers a dynamic and panoramic view over the natural landscape of the Kalmthoutse Heide.

Accoya wood was the material of choice for the railings, balustrades, and fire watchtower—the ultimate contrast to the steel truss construction frame. A variation of wood thicknesses and spacing was used, creating a sophisticated look, and thanks to the colour and material combination of Accoya wood, the tower harmonises beautifully with the surrounding natural landscape.

So much attention is paid to the interiors of our homes, but the exterior is what makes the first impression. A beautifully designed façade enhances the architecture and sets the tone and feel of a home before guests even set foot inside. With its warm, natural appeal and virtually limitless design potential, wood cladding has emerged as a major trend in exteriors. Here are six of-the-moment ways to use it to give your property serious street appeal.

While standard wood cladding has its benefits, it’s not suitable for every project or homeowner, as it requires ongoing maintenance and can deteriorate over time. Today you’ll find innovative alternatives that provide all the warmth and natural appeal of wood, with minimal maintenance requirements and far superior durability. Accoya’s acetylated wood cladding can withstand even tough weather conditions, is resistant to rotting, and if left untreated will weather naturally to a beautiful silvery grey.

Accoya wood has impressive environmental credentials too. It’s fully sustainable, and every panel comes with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification. It is also 100 percent nontoxic, so you can have peace of mind knowing it’s a healthy choice for you and your family.

If you’re looking to make a statement with a bold exterior, consider giving your home the shou-sugi-ban treatment. This ancient Japanese technique involves charring the wood to preserve and strengthen it. The charring turns the wood a deep charcoal black while revealing its texture and grain. Not only does this wood treatment make for a striking façade, but it minimizes maintenance.

Natural appeal aside, wood cladding gives you endlessly creative ways to express your personal style. Take this three-story office building designed and occupied by architectural firm Dillon Kyle Architects in Houston, for example. It’s clad in 2,500 Accoya boards that have an abstract leaf-like pattern carved into the wood. The pattern references the oak trees that line the neighbourhood, and it adds not just texture and softness to the modern structure but a unique personal touch.

“The Accoya wood boards are unsealed and allowed to weather over time,” says Peter Klein, associate principal architect at Dillon Kyle Architects. “The idea was to use a material where you couldn’t tell where the patterns started and stopped — just one big continuous object.”

As the wood cladding would play a pivotal role in the look and performance of the building, the firm took their time choosing the right one. “Even left untreated, it didn’t warp or mildew or mould, and that let us know we were on the right path,” Klein says. “The neutral grey tones coupled with its long-term durability, resistance to rot and insects made Accoya wood the ideal material for this project.”

Running slender boards vertically, as the architect has done here, is a clever design technique for making a low roof or ceiling appear higher. You can use this strategy both outside your home with wood cladding and inside with wood wall lining.

If room height is not a concern, consider mixing vertical and horizontal patterns for added texture and interest inside or outside your home.

More: Learn more about Accoya’s range of sustainable, acetylated wood products by visiting our homepage here.

This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.

Barangaroo House

A three-storey restaurant in Sydney’s CBD, was one of the first in the city to use Accoya wood cladding and is a remarkable example of why this natural look is an increasingly popular choice for the beautification of our cities. Nested amongst the modernist city architecture, it makes use of the distinctive Japanese charring technique, Shou Sugi Ban, to create a striking building that breathes life into the otherwise sterile landscape. The Barangaroo project is a globally renowned urban renewal project that has sustainability and well-being at its heart, so it is hard to think of a more fitting product for this than Accoya.

What’s more, is that Accoya is durable across the entire range of climates. Its use in Britain, as seen above in north London, proves a resilience in wet conditions, and Barangaroo House exemplifies its durability in Sydney’s hot and humid summers. This guaranteed sustainability means that not only will this striking example of wood cladding architecture makes this corner of the city more beautiful, it will do so for lifetimes to come.

4. Go exotic with Shou Sugi Ban

Shou Sugi Ban is a popular trend in wood cladding right now, particularly for modern home designs. This traditional Japanese technique of charring wood makes it more durable and gives the cladding a unique black color and burned texture for a long-lasting finish.

5. Vary the siding orientation

You can install your cladding vertically, horizontally, and even in patterns – all on the same home. And, because it is natural wood, Accoya is easy to work with.

6. Mix siding styles

The exciting part is that there are no rules. You can combine traditional narrow horizontal lap cladding mixed with wider vertical boards. Accoya comes in a variety of board widths, and it’s dimensionally stable, so joints stay smooth.