Platform on new construction, renovation, restoration and transformation
Part of the project is a building block with eight sustainable ground-level single-family homes, where for the first time the Bamboo X-treme® Closed Cladding from Moso International BV was applied. "Bamboo X-treme® as a natural material meets the highest fire safety requirements and creates a luxurious look," says Manager Commercial Unit BeNeLux Paul Vriend. "The facade will slowly discolor to a natural shade of gray."
The building block in subproject De Eilanden was designed by Moke Architects from Amsterdam, which is very enthusiastic about the use of bamboo as cladding. Not only because of its ecologically sustainable nature, but also for the soft and friendly appearance of the material. "In this project, however, Moke Architecten had to deal with a requirement for fire class B-s1-d0, according to the European standard EN 13501-1," Vriend knows. "Normally this fire class is difficult to achieve with a natural facade product, unless technical fire retardant products are added to the material, which is not durable and requires maintenance. Our Bamboo X-treme® Closed Cladding, on the other hand, achieves and maintains the requirement through the manufacturing process of heating and compressing the bamboo strips. Environmentally, this is a lot friendlier. In addition, the cladding boards are an aesthetic eye-catcher."
The cladding boards are constructed from compressed bamboo strips, with a bamboo proportion as high as 90%. "The result is a natural product preserved through thermal modification and without chemical flame retardants such as impregnating agents," said Vriend. "During the modification process, a lot of heat is added in a short period of time, making the Bamboo X-treme® facade planks are very dark in the base. Over time and under the influence of weather, however, the planks will gray and show more and more of their unique bamboo structure, without sacrificing (fire) technical properties."
Whereas as a rule a natural product always expands and shrinks, this is the case with Bamboo X-treme® Closed Cladding hardly the case, Vriend emphasizes. "By compressing the boards, we increase the density from 700 kg/m³ to about 1,150 kg/m³. This makes the material so dimensionally stable that expansion and contraction hardly occur anymore. Ventilation openings between the boards are no longer necessary, resulting in a 100% closed façade surface. The facade boards can be mounted super tightly against each other; both in length and height, also meeting the high fire rating (B) in the end application."
Bamboo X-treme® Closed Cladding was developed after market demands for a closed bamboo facade system with fire class B. Thanks to De Krijgsman Muiden and the request of Moke Architects, this development has gained momentum. Following De Eilanden subproject, the construction of 15 spacious townhouses in the Fortzicht subproject will soon begin, in which Moso International BV's products will also be used.
