One of Structura’s focuses while designing exterior products is to create a juxtaposition of wood and metal design aesthetics. Adding the wood components brings a natural warmth to the product and installation while providing another element that the customer and architect can customize to make their own. When we show the products to people, most are always surprised that they are real solid wood.
But how can a real wood product fair in the outdoor elements and maintain its aesthetic? How does Structura pull this off?
Our secret is the use of Accoya wood. Accoya is a modified lumber from Accsys Technologies PLC, a manufacturer and supplier of premium, high performance, and sustainable wood building materials. Accoya is able to offer unparalleled durability, stability, and versatility within the timber industry. Warranties offered reflect a minimum lifetime of 50 years above ground, and 25 years below ground or in freshwater. Accoya is also a sustainable building material with low carbon cost.
Fast-growing and sustainable FSC Certified Timber from radiata pine undergoes an acetylation process in Accsys’ production site in Arnhem, The Netherlands. This process uses acetic anhydride, an organic compound derived from acetic acid (a naturally occurring acid that is extremely important for many biochemical processes, and also the main active ingredient in vinegar!) and a special acetylation reactor to heat and pressure treat the wood. This changes the material properties of the wood, preventing between 80%-90% of all water absorption, essentially locking the cellular walls with material. Not only does this prevent rot, decay, disease, and boring insects, it also remains non-toxic, allowing us to place our products outdoors with confidence. In fact, the entire production of Accoya is non-toxic, and the Accoya itself can be recycled and disposed of freely. This makes Structura products that much more environmentally friendly.
Since its inception in 2007, Accoya has been an increasingly popular material in The Netherlands and other European countries. Common applications include window frames, doors, terraces, and facades. Architects and designers worldwide now choose Accoya for a range of other uses. Structura selected Accoya for many reasons, including its dimensional stability, impressive strength-to-weight ratio, and most notably its longevity and ability to withstand exposure to the elements.
We first started using Accoya with our wood poles after initially trying to use species like ipe and cumaru. While the other species started to fail at what we wanted to build, the Accoya wood thrived. We became completely confident that the Accoya wood would hold up to our construction methods through machining, glulams, and finishing. The lumber itself is much easier to move around and machine compared to tropical or other wood species. A main characteristic that sets Accoya apart is its dimensional stability in outdoor environments allowing us to know what we machine and fit together is going to stay that way and not cause concerns when combined with metal components.
A product that Structura has become known for is our Aura, an exterior rated illuminated wood pendant. Without the trusted characteristics that Accoya provides, we would not have tried to hang these luminaries in exterior applications going upwards of 18ft in diameter on catenary installations. We know that the wood is able to withstand and hold up to all different types of environments from the drier climates to mountains and to coastal installations.
The fact is, we would not be making wood products if we did not find Accoya.
As durable as Accoya products are, they should be cleaned and cared for–just like anything else that is installed outside. All Structura wood products come with a 2-year finish warranty with an option for an additional 3-years through our Care & Maintenance plan. Our maintenance plan consists of three site visits within the 5-year warranty period. These visits involve inspecting, cleaning, and performing any minor repairs.
Learn more about Structura’s innovations in wood.