Russwood’s trip to Lunawood
Following the launch of the Lunawood Collection, we felt it was important to see the manufacturing process of Thermowood first hand. Members of our sales and architect liaison teams were delighted to have the opportunity to visit our Thermowood partners Lunawood, in Finland, to learn more. Charlotte, Michael, Thea and Alaister spent most of their time in Central Finland at Iisalmi Mill which is the largest Thermo treatment plant in the world. With capacity lying at 90,000m3, this mill alone produces 1,636 artic lorries a year. In this blog, Charlotte tells us more about Russwood’s trip to Finland.
Arriving in Finland
It was clear from our visit that Finland has great appreciation for four things: forestry, lakes, saunas, and filter coffee. Around 72% of Finland is under forest cover, which equates to an area larger than the entire of the UK. This means that Finland has 10 trees for every person in the world! On top of the large forest cover, Finland is known as the land of a thousand lakes with over a whopping 187,000 lakes. Pairing nicely with the lakes, Finland has around 2.3 million saunas for a population of 5 million people.
Upon arriving at Iisalmi Mill we were greeted by Matias, Susanna, Johanna, Mika and Juusi from the Lunawood Team. After introductions, we toured the production facilities and thermal treatment kilns. With the cool weather, the heat (and smell!) from the kilns was greatly welcomed. The Thermowood is graded and moulded into profiles through large planers and packed accordingly. The discussion continued inside (over filter coffee of course) where we shared and discussed timber trends, broadened our understanding of what people want, and expect, from Thermowood globally.
Learning the process
Gaining a more thorough understanding of the Thermowood process has allowed us to hone in on the benefits of each profile we offer. The Luna Triple, now with certification to a Euroclass B with Burnblock®, is a great option for projects that require a flame-retardant but are after batten-style cladding.
The smaller Luna Trio lends itself nicely for use internally, helping to create a modern yet homely atmosphere whilst the narrow width of the Parallelogram SSS offers a sleek appearance to contemporary designs. The Luna Panel System fills a hole in the market by allowing projects to specify fin-style cladding that can obtain Euroclass B certification with the addition on Burnblock®. As each profile is suitable for a different application, having a conversation about design intention and requirements with someone from our Architect Liaison Team is the best way to ensure you are specifying the most suitable product for your project.
A valued partnership
After all the timber chat and filter coffee, it seemed only right that we would sample Finland’s other specialties with a warm up in the sauna before taking a dip in the (very cold) lake nearby. All in all, we left Finland more knowledgeable and confident in the Thermowood process whilst feeling inspired and excited for our continued relationship with Lunawood.
Kiitos, Lunawood!
Our Lunawood Collection, in partnership with Lunawood, is available here.