The Definition of Cool: Angled Pine Facade Adds Modern Style & Shade

pine facade 1

Here’s an example of an architectural project using pine lumber in an extraordinarily simple yet beautiful way. The ‘Green Pine Garden’ by Scenic Architecture started out as an old factory building with a less-than-attractive exterior, located close to a highway. Not only did it need a serious facelift, but the clients wanted more privacy, shade and a sense of separation from the noise and activity of the road.

pine facade 2

The solution didn’t require expensive materials or prolonged labor. It’s natural, recyclable, efficient and high-impact. And, it’s part of a growing trend that renovates existing structures by adding a secondary envelope that can easily be removed or updated down the line.

pine facade 3 pine facade 5

The architects created a buffer space between the new facade and the original structure, topped with glass, to bring in natural daylight while preserving privacy and keeping it cooler inside. This reduces the need for air conditioning and creates the opportunity for strategic views looking out onto a park newly planted with hundreds of juvenile trees.

pine facade 4

The facade itself is made from simple local pine battens arranged in angled planes inspired by tectonics, giving the building a more dynamic and visually interesting visual effect.

The Definition of Cool: Angled Pine Facade Adds Modern Style & Shade

pine facade 1

Here’s an example of an architectural project using pine lumber in an extraordinarily simple yet beautiful way. The ‘Green Pine Garden’ by Scenic Architecture started out as an old factory building with a less-than-attractive exterior, located close to a highway. Not only did it need a serious facelift, but the clients wanted more privacy, shade and a sense of separation from the noise and activity of the road.

pine facade 2

The solution didn’t require expensive materials or prolonged labor. It’s natural, recyclable, efficient and high-impact. And, it’s part of a growing trend that renovates existing structures by adding a secondary envelope that can easily be removed or updated down the line.

pine facade 3 pine facade 5

The architects created a buffer space between the new facade and the original structure, topped with glass, to bring in natural daylight while preserving privacy and keeping it cooler inside. This reduces the need for air conditioning and creates the opportunity for strategic views looking out onto a park newly planted with hundreds of juvenile trees.

pine facade 4

The facade itself is made from simple local pine battens arranged in angled planes inspired by tectonics, giving the building a more dynamic and visually interesting visual effect.

Modern Pine Home in Finland Puts a New Twist on the Classic Log Cabin

modern log villa 1

What does a modernized version of a log cabin look like? In Finland, a forest home by architecture firm Pluspuu Oy gives us one beautiful example, stacking thick laminated pine logs with modern mitered corner joints and a design that prioritizes natural light and views of the landscape outside. One entire wall consists of floor-to-ceiling windows so inhabitants can look out onto the lake through the surrounding trees.

modern log villa 2 modern log villa 3

The architects note that they built the house to withstand frosty temperatures that can dip as low as -22 degrees in winter, with geothermal heat as the source of warmth. Unlike in traditional log buildings, there are no overlaps or visible cross corners in the logs that make up the exterior and interior walls.

modern log villa 7

“The 202x205mm laminated timber log consists of three-layer glued pine – the hard heartwood always forms the outer layer,” they explain. “In Finland, logs are also used for constructing schools and kindergartens, for example, these days. The most important criterion for using timber logs in the construction of public buildings is the clean and healthy indoor air in the log house.”

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“The windows are triple-glazed thermal glass. Blown-in wood fiber insulation, made of a material as breathable as timber logs, is used for the roof insulation. So we can talk about a truly ecological construction approach.”

Modern Stable in a Finland Forest Uses Raw Pine for Happy Horses

animal architecture stables 2

A beautiful modern stable on the edge of a forest in rural Finland, north of the city of Espoo, boldly features a predominantly white pine design both for looks and for practical reasons. Completed by local architecture studio Pook, the farm building incorporates a sharply gabled asymmetric roof with horse stalls and storage on one side, and a manure barn on the other. So why’d they go with unfinished white pine?

animal architecture stables

horse stable 4

According to the architects, the use of untreated pine cladding helps to regulate the humidity inside the stables, keeping the horses happy and healthy. It also avoids any wood finishes that could off-gas toxins into the stalls. But take one look at all these gorgeous photos and you’ll see that aesthetics played a role, too. Raw pine makes up the majority of the interior and exterior surfaces, mostly in the form of tongue-and-groove boards as well as the timber framework. Concrete was used in areas that the horses might get dirty.

horse stable 5

horse stable 6

These boards extend all the way from the floors to the high ceilings, perfectly setting off the skylights that flood the interiors with sunlight during the day. Mechanical vents provide natural ventilation, and hot air pumps – along with the heat generated by the horses themselves – help maintain comfortable temperatures inside.

animal architecture stables 3

horse stable 3

“The aim was to locate the building nestled in a picturesque great landscape,” say the architects. “Its long edge follows the direction of the forest slope and brings the building’s gable into the woods. In addition to landscape benefit, this created wind shelters in outdoor spaces to protect against the prevailing southwestern winds. Massing is based on the steep, asymmetric gabled roof, under which all central functions are located.”

Game Changer: Engineered Wood Opens Doors in the Construction Market

CLT

Is engineered wood ‘the new concrete?’ As demand grows, some industry sources say mass timber is set to open new doors in construction for the lumber industry, offering lucrative opportunities at the intersection of timber and tech. Advances in the processes used to make cross-laminated timber and other engineered wood products have set up a boom for tall wooden buildings with similar if not better structural integrity than those made with steel and concrete, making the construction industry as a whole more environmentally friendly.

Made from industrially dried quick-growing wood – including pine – CLT is up to four times lighter than reinforced concrete. A building made with CLT instead of traditional concrete uses up to 70 percent less material and can cut construction times by a third, sending project profitability through the roof. Developers are definitely taking note.

In a recent issue of the property insurer GenRe’s ‘Property Matters’ publication, Property/Casualty Senior Consulting Underwriter Leo Ronken examines “what’s so good about wood,” going down a long list of the attributes that have made engineered wood increasingly popular with architects, legislators and construction pros.

“In the global trend toward the construction of buildings that meet ecological needs, wood has some clear advantages over traditional construction materials such as steel and concrete. With advances in engineered wood materials and components come possibilities to construct increasingly larger buildings – a trend being witnessed around the world.”

Real estate services firm JLL has also noted the trend and what it could mean moving forward, calling it a ‘game changer.’

“The emergence of successful mass timber projects across all sectors is a trend which looks set to continue and develop as the industry demands more innovation. As Lucas Epp, Head of Engineering at StructureCraft in North America, says mass timber projects require fewer construction workers on site, less waste and higher quality of work. ‘Mass timber office buildings are also now competing with steel and concrete on cost,’ he adds.”

The forest products industry has long depended on single family homes, but mass timber opens the possibility of entrance into new markets where wooden framing was previously seen as inappropriate. Buildings made with mass timber are able to meet strict building codes, including those measuring fire resistance.

Another benefit of increased demand for CLT is the fact that it can be made with smaller, second-growth timber, reducing the need for so many big, solid logs from older trees and fueling greater efficiency at mills.

Image via Woodworks.org

Timber City: A New Trend of Tall Timber Architecture on Display in Washington D.C.

framework building

The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. doesn’t usually do current events exhibitions, but its curators say that all changed this year with Timber City due to a coming evolution in architecture. Namely: the spread of high-rise wooden structures, which are taking off across the world so fast, we can barely keep track of which one’s currently holding the record as the highest. Timber City examines tall-timber construction as it expands into a contemporary trend, comparing it to growth in the use of reinforced concrete in the early 20th century.

The exhibit shows off a wide variety of new architecture being made with new types of wooden construction techniques, including the use of cross-laminated timber (CLT). While its safety has already been tested and demonstrated convincingly enough to prompt new building codes and the embrace of architects, this type of tall timber architecture won’t be accepted as mainstream until consumers appreciate it for its physical beauty, according to Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino, one of the project’s curators.

“This fall, the Museum challenges the notion that wood is an antiquated building material when it opens Timber City,” reads the project’s website. “The exhibition demonstrates the many advantages offered by cutting-edge methods of timber construction, including surprising strength, fire resistance, sustainability and beauty. Drawing attention to the recent boom in timber construction worldwide, Timber City further highlights several U.S. based projects, including two winners of the U.S. Tall Wood Building Prize, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Softwood Lumber Board and the Binational Softwood Lumber Council.”

The exhibit went up on September 17th and will remain in place through May 21st, 2017, so if you get a chance to visit Washington D.C., pop into the National Building Museum and check it out.

Pictured: The 130-foot-tall Framework Building in Portland, Oregon