From used wood to new product

Hupkes Houthandel is a specialist in the manufacture and supply of earth, road and water construction products, with over 100 years of experience in sawing, planing and CNC machining hardwood. In early 2020, the company was approached by a scout about building It Swettehûs.

Hupkes creates custom solutions in Azobé, Bilinga, Groenhart and Basralocus, among others. Roelof Lantinga is responsible for sales on this project: "We were approached because we both have the wood and can work it. Not that it was an easy job. The question was which materials were suitable and which we had available."

Director Stefan Meinhardt: "Roelof and I started offering recycled wood in earnest about four years ago. For It Swettehûs, of our national and international projects, we have supplied the largest volume of recycled wood to date." This wood came from mooring posts, sheet piles and driftwood that needed to be renovated or replaced. Says Lantinga, "It's always a surprise what condition the wood is in after years of weathering outdoors. If it has been underwater, there are shellfish/bagger and algae on here, for example." 

Because the wood requires extensive processing first, reclaimed wood has its limitations. "Sometimes a customer asks for a product or quantity that is not possible. Machining this wood is complicated because of steel present or other defects. The poles we buy up are not infinitely long. In addition, we saw and plane off the bad pieces at our sawmill in Dieren. This creates a new product." This may often carry an FSC seal of approval. "For this project, only one type was initially available in this volume," says Lantinga. "Part of the pulled piles we left the same and other part sawn. This involved 20 trucks full. The material comes as much as possible from Friesland. About 96 Basralocus piles were used for construction. Other poles were cut and used for the facade, both inside and outside. Azobé and Karri were also used for the harbor and jetties."