"wood"

A hospital facility in Norrland, Sweden has been renovated extensively with wood-based products, owing to the universal belief that natural materials help people heal better. This serene and homely sanctuary functions as a temporary home for families with young children suffering from long-term illness.

Decors from the Formica® Laminate Colors, Woods and Patterns Collection have been specified for a hospitality and boardroom suite for StudioCanal at their offices in Pancras Square, London. McFarlane Latter Architects were looking for a contemporary interior design scheme filled with biophilic colours and natural woodgrains. 

Lightweight but very strong mounting profileCHALLENGEStraight lines, maximum light and a unique, remarkable design. This is how independent architect Lieze Vandael saw her own home. Due to the numerous voids and imposing windows up to 9 meters high, a traditional construction method was certainly not an option. A suitable alternative had to be found. Moreover, Lieze Vandael wanted to see the elegant, minimalist architectural style with straight lines envelop the building: a roof and façade finish in the same material - preferably timber - and moreover, seamlessly blending into each other. To have the building completely wrapped in wood. Definitely a real challenge! A neat and watertight connection between roof and façade is not an easy job at all. Besides, timber is never completely waterproof. So, the challenge for Lieze Vandael was to combine the roof and the façade into one uniform surface, ensuring a perfectly watertight roof.SOLUTIONArchitect Vandael wanted to step away from the traditional lightframe wood structure, and opted for an alternative mass timber construction: a load-bearing construction formed from tongue and groove stacked solid wood beams. After all, this type of construction creates a lot of possibilities and is, besides, a more durable and ecological solution. For the exterior finish of the building the architect chose thermowood Ayous, a knot-free, clear-grade exotic hardwood providing excellent durability. The façade was finished with thermowood in a traditional way. Finishing the roof, however, was a more complex task. Cladding a roof with timber, particularly a highly sloped roof poses a substantial risk. How to achieve a watertight roof?

Saige Gripsure boards in Grey have been used on a small footbridge at Gogmore Farm Park in Chertsey, Surrey. The client was looking for a non-slip option with minimal maintenance requirements on this high footfall area in the farm park. The wood grain effect of the board sits beautifully in the natural surroundings.

Located in the heart of a bustling urban area in Sandyford Dublin, this residential space was in need of an interior design overhaul that would create a warm and inviting atmosphere for visitors residents alike. The architect in charge of the project decided to use Oak Carvaggio engineered wood flooring, which proved to be an inspired choice.

Local resources, local suppliers and sustainable wood-based materials were the requirements for this 18-storey building in Brumunddal. Located 140 km north of Oslo, Mjøstårnet is tallest cross laminated timber (CLT) building in the world and is celebrated by the international construction industry as a first-class engineering achievement.

As part of the development at Riverside Sunderland, Brims Construction are carrying out the work at the former Gilbridge Police Station site. During the works, Helmsman were asked to supply some lockers. The client requested Heavy Duty lockers with a wood effect finish, alongside a bespoke vanity cupboard with vanity shelf. 

Providing a resident community with lasting comfortIssueThe Village Langley consists of a large community centre and six corresponding cottages. Dedicated to ensuring that residents coping with the degenerative effects of dementia are able to direct their own day-to-day living in a safe, natural environment, The Village provides holistic care centred on forming relationships and finding a sense of place in one’s surroundings.Each cottage features the comforts of a typical home environment, including a living room, dining area, an open kitchen and private rooms with adjoining bathrooms. Small groups of residents live together in these spaces, allowing trained household teams to focus on their individual abilities and promote an improved quality of life.ApproachThe Village collaborated with NSDA Architects to develop the most efficient layout possible. This involved finding a flooring solution that would address the residents’ unique needs, while adhering to the desired home-like aesthetic.SolutionVisual perception plays an important role in designing for memory care facilities. High-gloss surfaces and complex patterns can cause disorientation in residents and potentially increase the risk of injury. Non-glare finished floors such as Altro Wood avoid compromising vision in these environments.“The beautiful matt finish was essential to eliminate glare and reflections that can be detrimental to residents with dementia,” explained Dust.The firm specified Altro Aquarius for resident bathrooms. In the community centre and activity rooms, Altro Operetta was chosen for its ability to withstand high volumes of traffic. Altro Stronghold 30 was used in its commercial kitchen area to provide its staff with the highest available slip resistance.Altro Operetta is a robust floor perfect for medium to high traffic areas that is easy to clean and maintain. It has attractive, natural and contemporary colours and finishes.Altro Aquarius is especially suitable for environments with high slip risk in wet and dry conditions. It achieves class B according to DIN 51097 for barefoot use, as well as a pendulum test value (PTV) of ≥50 (slider 96).Altro Wood is an attractive, general purpose safety flooring with design and colour options that match Altro Wood adhesive-free and Altro Wood Comfort to achieve a consistent look in different areas.Altro Stronghold 30 achieves PTV ≥55, R12 with 3mm thickness. Altro Stronghold, combined with Altro Whiterock wall sheets, provides an impervious, easy to clean and safe Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) approved solution for kitchen environments."Altro Wood was selected for the cottages for the warmth of its woodgrain and visual familiarity for the residents. It provides excellent slip resistance to mitigate resident falls."Brian Dust Architect, Principal at NSDA"Altro has a well-thought-out line of products with exceptional technical and design features that coordinate well together. Residents, families and healthcare professionals have been highly complimentary on the home-like cottages, and Altro products have contributed significantly to the aesthetics of the buildings."Brian Dust Architect, Principal at NSDA

Kelly is a lifestyle writer whose popular blog, My Norfolk Home, covers home decor ideas & renovation inspiration. Kelly selected a Dimplex Grand Noir Opti-MystTM fire. The Grand Noir, is a beautiful electric stove, combining the classic feeling of a wood burning stove with modern electric functionality.

he Expo Group Interior Architecture team decided to utilise the wonderful wood laminates available in Polyrey's Origine collection, particularly those decors with strong personalities such as ‘Teck Massif’ . The finish selected was FA as they felt this would best compliment the teak design and highlight its natural characteristics such as the grain and texture.

When interior design company Sibley Grove was appointed to re-design the public areas at The Chamberlain Hotel near Tower Hill in London, sustainability was paramount. The company ethos states that design should be a vehicle for positive change – both environmentally and socially. Consequently, to help achieve this, Troldtekt’s wood wool panels make an important contribution to the overall design of the luxurious interpretation of an industrial basement bar. As part of the concept, the interior has been stripped back to create height and volume, revealing structural columns and ductwork within. In addition, the façade has been adapted so that natural light can flood in and reveal the inner working of the space. By its very nature, this created a lot of hard surfaces so Troldtekt’s acoustic wood wool panels were specified to help combat the problems generated by noise and reverberated sounds. The designers were keen to specify as many sustainable and Cradle-to-Cradle certified materials as possible such as wall and floor tiles, timber, carpets and Troldtekt’s wood wool ceilings (certified to Silver Level). By specifying these products, the environmental impact is minimal and also that, if and when the time comes for a change, the materials can be reused, re-appropriated. recycled or upcycled. Specified throughout the UK and Europe, the benefits of 100% Troldtekt natural wood wool panels include high sound absorption, high durability, natural breathability, low cost life cycle performance and sustainability. Available in various sizes and in four grades from extreme fine to coarse, the panels can be left untreated or painted in virtually any RAL colour. Designer Jeremy Grove commented, “We believe good design should enhance people’s lives and work in harmony with the natural environment. The hotel industry is inherently wasteful, but people are looking for ways to correct this. Cradle-to-Cradle is an extremely effective way of tackling issues such as global resource depletion, exploited labour and excessive waste. The Chamberlain Hotel is our third collaboration with Fullers in the last 12 months that has used a considerable number of Cradle-to-Cradle products.”Samples, case studies and technical information are easily sourced from tel 01978 664255 or visit www.troldtekt.co.uk. More information on Troldtekt’s Sustainability and environmental policies can be found here: www.troldtekt.com/Environment-and-CSR 

A complete floors and walls solution from Altro has been used to create a relaxing, stylish home from home environment for mums-to-be in a new birth centre at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital. Products used are Altro Pisces, Altro Whiterock Digiclad, Altro Whiterock Satins, Altro Walkway 20, Altro Wood

‘Autobarn’ is an unusual build comprising an elegant five-bay garage and accompanying workshop sitting within the grounds of a Grade-II listed 18th-century home in Somerset.Designed by Bindloss Dawes Architects, the brief was to create a garage with an adjoining workshop to house the client’s classic car collection. The finished result is an aesthetically beautiful building with its deceptively simple wooden barn-themed styling using agricultural materials such as concrete and recycled wood under a zinc roof. With surfaces comprising steel, timber and polished concrete floor, the architects incorporated Troldtekt acoustic panels to clad both the walls and ceilings between the steel frames for sound absorption and to combat the issue of reverberating noise.The added advantage of having services hidden behind the white panelling means the final result is a stunning simplistic and minimalist design allowing the classic cars to be the focus of attention and transforming the space into more of a gallery than a traditional garage.Troldtekt acoustic panels are available in a variety of different surfaces and colours and combine sound absorption with a tactile surface. With an expected life cycle of at least 50 years and resistance to humidity and impact, they are available in various sizes and four grades, from extreme fine to coarse. The panels can be left untreated or painted in almost any RAL colour. Depending on the panel specified, reaction to fire is classed in accordance with EN 13501 as B-s1,d0 or A2-s1,d0 respectively. Founded on the Cradle-to-Cradle design concept and having attained Gold certification, Troldtekt wood wool acoustic panels are manufactured using wood from certified forests (PEFC™ and FSC®C115450) and can contribute positively to a building’s BREEAM, DGNB or LEED points. 

We were selected by Lend Lease to be the supplier of the architectural ironmongery, mailboxes and signs for the scheme in 2009 and worked closely with Bryden Wood who were the architects appointed to coordinate the internal elements. The scheme comprised of eleven blocks that were used to accommodate the 17,000 athletes during the games and have now been converted into 2,500 apartments.

From floor to ceiling this 'Sport For All' school chose the DYNAMIK treatment with an area elastic sprung sports floor finished in Tarkett Sports Vinyl and DYNAMIK Sports Wall panels to provide the best acoustics. The Solid & Acoustic (Perforated) sports wall panels in Classic Oak CPL wood-effect finish complement the Grey floor surface.

Sugar House Island is a 26 acre area of land being developed by Vastint UK in east London. The first phase is a collection of eight historic and new office buildings targeted at the creative industries. Location: London Contractor: VastintArchitect: Bryden Wood Aspex supplied: Entrance doorsets, communal doorsets and Novista riser doors

Used car sales have dominated the automotive market in recent years, and this trend has subsequently boosted BCA ‘s business, creating the need to expand one of their popular auction grounds at Paddock Wood, Kent. Jacksons were approached to supply 56 metres of 2.90m high Barbican® vertical bar fencing in a standard galvanised finish.

This spacious showroom in Germany for one of Europe's leading furniture manufacturers is zoned beautifully throughout with Milliken's Wireframe cushion backed carpet tiles and Open-Shut wood style planks from the First Call luxury vinyl tile collection. The acoustic performance of the floor coverings offers a comfortable and sound absorbing solution for this double height open space.

NORclad supplied nearly 7,000/LM of pre-coated Thermowood across this contemporary project in Berkhamsted.Thermowood is a great timber when it comes to applying a coating, after going through the heat treating process, the Finnish grown European Redwood/Whitewood (Scandinavian Pine/Spruce) is more stable. It is suitable in conditions of changing humidity, and its thermal insulation properties are improved, ideal for use in exposed areas such as External Timber Cladding.The heat treatment process enables the use of Scandinavian Redwood in areas requiring a service life of up to 30 years without the need for any further preservative or coating to be applied. The process removes resin from timber, as a result there is no resin leakage or “bleed” through the surface coatings. The effect of this together with the improved stability can lead to a lower maintenance requirement, combined with the application of the Sansin SDF system, which will further protect the outside of wood.The SDF product also protects the inside by allowing the timber to ‘breath’ – helping to prevent moisture from getting trapped in the wood and causing rot.

For a hotel at the very top of its industry, guest experience is paramount. At the “KRONE’ Hotel, achieving an exceptional flooring solution meant keeping with the lavish interior design aesthetic, but also ensuring high levels of comfort and wellbeing. Rustic Limed Wood from Spacia, with Amtico Acoustic backing was the solution the hotel’s managing director chose because it met those important requirements.

Dove is Ramside Hall Hotel’s latest luxury treehouse, situated within the woodland adjacent to the 18th fairway of The Prince Bishops golf course in Durham. The rustic interiors feature Amtico LVT wood flooring from the Signature collection, chosen for its design-led aesthetics, colour palettes and durability to withstand heavy footfall, while still maintaining a fresh and new look.

Washroom installed new male and female washrooms using bespoke design elements to create a unique space to complement the rest of the building. The full height Alto toilet cubicle doors were finished with a striking dark wood effect Engineered Veneer, which ensures a consistency of colour for each cubicle door, and the bespoke floating trough vanities were manufactured in white Silestone.

The prestigious law firm Mills & Reeve has refurbished its Norwich brand to create a smart office environment that incorporates a homely feel, using three shades of Allura Wood LVT from Forbo Flooring Systems. Mills & Reeve's new office was designed by architects Feilden + Mawson and has subsequently won the Highly commended prize in Fly Forbo 2017/2018.

Riverside Heights is a collection of contemporary six and seven storey apartment buildings in a Norwich riverside setting. Timber cladding on several flanks of these structures needed to be replaced with fire-safe facades which had to match those being removed as closely as possible. Rockpanel were able to fulfil the brief using five super-realistic surface designs from its Woods Collection. 

Bayside Apartments is a stunning new development on Worthing's seafront. With a resident's lounge, communal courtyard space and spa, Bayside truly makes the most of its incredible seafront home. Taking inspiration from the coast, 'Bayside Vista' - the 15 storey structure is enveloped in swooping balconies with wood-grain tile, supported by Ryno RPF Fixed-Head Paving Support Pedestals.

This unique bathroom is typically Brazilian in design. The bathroom adjoins a spacious, well-furnished bedroom, and sits under a large skylight. A wall of green foliage acts as a backdrop for the Amalfi bath, which only adds to the clever allusion of bringing nature into this home.Both the bedroom and the bathroom play with texture and material; wood, leather, stone and foliage.Photography: Felipe AraújoDesign: mf+arquitetos

Lindner realised the tenant fit-out for Zürich Versicherungs-Gesellschaft AG with partition wall, door and room-in-room systems: the full panel partition system Lindner Logic Timber – cladded with perforated real wood silver fir veneer – ensures good acoustics.It is complemented by Lindner Life Stereo 125 glass partitions framed by powder-coated aluminium profiles in black and by profiles veneered with real wood – also in silver fir. The glass partition wall system is Cradle to Cradle® Silver certified and thus takes account of the sustainability concept. Wooden door elements veneered with silver fir and supplemented by wooden block frames provide access to the different areas and round off the clear visual impression.A total of 18 identical Lindner Cubes offer additional space for meetings or concentrated work – including heated/chilled ceilings, optimal lighting and acoustics as well as copying areas at the front of the outer wall. Completed WorksPartitionsPartition Systems GlassLindner Life Stereo 125Partition Systems Full PanelLindner Logic 100 TimberRoom-in-RoomLindner Cube duo

Manor Park is a new build development of 53 homes, located on the northern edge of Ashford in Kent. RCM supplied 216 planks of 190mm wide Supertech Weatherboard in a stained Light Oak finish. Plastestrip end and starter profiles (Plasticlad) were also supplied colour matched. Supertech Weatherboard proved to be the perfect choice as it has the beautiful look of natural wood without the need for costly maintena

The Londoner hotel is the world’s first ‘super boutique’ hotel comprising of 350 guest suites, multiple restaurants, bar, cinema and swimming pool. With cutting-edge architecture, the interiors are beautifully unique and iconic.  Contractor: EE SmithArchitect: Woods Bagot, LondonInterior Designers: Yabu Pushelberg (New York)Products supplied: Ironmongery, Novista Riser Steel Doors & Novista Riser Timber Doors

Thistle’s Centre of Wellbeing in Edinburgh wanted floorings that couple function and style with the necessary attributes. Consequently, floorings for the gym and meeting rooms were specified. It was Gerflor’s Taraflex® Evolution in Wood Oak that satisfied Thistle’s clear brief for a good looking, comfortable, hygienic, high performing, durable, easy-maintenance gym flooring. It also fulfilled the requirements for a product that could contribute to the warm, welcoming and friendly aesthetic.

In this stunning building conversion, Milliken's Comfortable Concrete 2.0 'paves' the corridors (Laid Bare) and adds a beautiful dusting of colour (Urban Poetry)to the meeting rooms. In the acoustic booths, Lightbox provides a pops of vibrant, dynamic colour and acoustic performance. Milliken's LVT in the natural wood aesthetic of Open-Shut and mineral effect of Earth Science deliver practical slip resistance and FlexForm Sound™ acoustic performance.

Albion Stone supplied ‘Portland Stone Australia’ with approximately 400m² of Portland Grove Whitbed for this prestigious residential project in Victoria, Australia.The Architect, Woods Bagot were thrilled to secure this prestigious stone for a truly magnificent project. The house overlooks the esplanade and has spectacular ocean views.The stone was installed using the stone clip system. Remato construction did an excellent job as this is their first experience using the system.

Making an Entrance at London's leading net zero CAT A ProjectWithin London’s Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Holbein Gardens is a remarkable building just off Sloane Square that seeks to lead the way for companies seeking to achieving net-zero goals. Blenheim House Construction (BHC) helped realise Grosvenor’s vision to turn a tired old 1980s building into a net zero exemplar.A bare bones CAT A project, the site boasts quadruple environmental certification, including BREEAM Outstanding and WELL gold accreditation. Naturally, market-leading sustainable Entrance Matting was required to echo the space’s green ethos.INTRAsystems was the obvious choice thanks to our extensive range of sustainable products that help meet WELL and BREEAM standards.A sustainable successAcross the entire scheme, suppliers were challenged to use the industry’s most innovative, sustainable products, aiming at the highest levels of recycled content and recyclability.INTRAform DM Low Profile was chosen in the unique wood effect finish, which ticks all the boxes including validated data on embodied carbon and packing a double punch of sustainability and performance. Cool black Elite fibre inserts are made from 100% post-consumer waste with extremely low whole-life carbon emissions.Specified in 2020 but delayed through COVID, installation was completed in 2023. INTRA liaised with contractors to reschedule site surveys once pre-works were completed sufficiently for the entrance area to be assessed accurately. This was particularly crucial since the Entrance Mat sits in a lower position surrounded by steps and a raised floor level.Beauty and Brawn - Wood-effect Recycled Aluminium for Sustainable Entrance MattingThis smart wood-effect finish was new to the market back in 2020 but the client was confident it would meet their quality demands based on the many successful projects we’ve collaborated with them on across a variety of settings.Today the faux wood variant is a market-leading product that beats similar looking products made of real bamboo in terms of strength, longevity and good looks. Real wood systems don’t handle excessive moisture well, so the wrapped aluminium is ideal and more sustainable too. Read our bamboo vs aluminium blog to learn why.Fir for purposeNext door to London’s Sloane Square tube station, the 25,000 square feet office building is designed to house 2,500 office workers plus service staff and visitors. The entrance is immediately off the street with a small canopy and no draft lobby, so the matting will be exposed to direct and prevailing rain.Technically, INTRAform DM Low Profile was an ideal choice for a Cat A project like this as it can cope with high footfall and provides more flexibility than other systems. This 12mm profile variant can be surface mounted or shallow recessed for easier integration with whatever finishes the future tenants choose. And the interlocking plank system makes installation and onward retrofitting easy, if required.Entrance Matting Triumphs in Durability and Moisture AbsorptionINTRAform DM, with the Elite inserts will cope with rain with ease thanks to being happy in external (zone 1) and internal (zone 2) locations. It is typically found in shopping centres and office complexes as it’s hard-working and hard-wearing with excellent moisture absorption and dirt removal.The closed construction format and extra wide inserts make cleaning and maintaining INTRAform DM a breeze too. This will be essential to protect any materials chosen for the expansive lobby of this high-spec building.

One of the advantages of installing a sprung sports floor, such as the DYNAMIK Athen system finished with a solid sports wood effect vinyl, is its versatility in allowing the space to not only be used for sports but to be hired out for non-sporting events such as meetings, community groups and social occasions. In a community setting such as The Greenhouse Centre, the opportunities to maximise the space is made easier with the right floor. Old and new features can be combined to create a functional space.

Air Charter was refurbishing its UK headquarters into a space where its staff could refresh, relax and enjoy some downtime. Milliken's Rootwork LVT with FlexForm Sound™ was chosen for the floor covering to provide a beautiful wood plank aesthetic combined with enhcanced acoustic performance and exceptional slip resistance. The product's loose lay format made for a fast and efficient adhesive-free installation process. This is a Carbon Neutral product.

A chain of beautiful boutique hotels in Germany was expanding to create its first international destination branch in London. The choice of location was important as it had to reflect the brand’s commitment to ensuring it provided not just a beautiful hotel experience, but also the beauty of the external local community.Vtec’s MicroSlat – Wood Style Panel System was specified for the stunning feature ceiling designs in the basement-level restaurant and lounge, as well as the ground-floor reception area.