An architect-designed home located in Bois-le-Roi, in Île-de-France in the heart of the Fontainebleau forest, has featured a façade fully clad in Kebony wood for the past two years. Smooth, knot-free Kebony Clear boards are gradually taking on their characteristic silver-grey tone, allowing the house to blend harmoniously into its surroundings.
This architect couple chose Kebony wood to clad their own home because of its ecological, durable, and aesthetic qualities. For the past two years, Kebony Clear boards—one of whose aesthetic properties is being knot-free—have been used to clad this new residence. With a very contemporary style, the choice of materials naturally integrates this home into its wooded environment, made up largely of millstone stone houses. Kebony Clear thus combines a natural material with modernity.
“We were not familiar with the Kebony brand. However, after carrying out extensive research, we realised it was the best solution to achieve the result we wanted from a technical, aesthetic, and environmental standpoint. Above all, Kebony wood is a genuine alternative to other woods such as tropical hardwoods, which are less aligned with our vision of architecture,” the couple explains.
The owners wanted to clad their home with vertical cladding, without grooves or grain. Value for money was also an important selection criterion. Above all, they wanted to use wood that was not tropical hardwood—certainly not Ipé, whose environmental consequences are disastrous. At the same time, these architects were also looking for a durable product for this personal project. Aesthetic, natural, and guaranteed for 35 years, Kebony Clear proved to be the ideal answer to their expectations.
Developed in Norway, Kebony technology is a patented, environmentally friendly process that modifies softwoods from sustainable, FSC-certified sources. By heating the wood with furfuryl alcohol—an organically derived product—the wood’s cell walls are polymerised, and the softwoods irreversibly take on the attributes of tropical hardwood, while having a minimised impact on the environment.
Kebony wood is ideal for cladding a façade. Resistant to the elements, it also requires very little maintenance. This provides assurance that you are using a responsible, durable product that does not compromise natural environments. Here, it brings warmth to the home, while its silver-grey patina will add elegance year after year. As Kebony wood is toxin-free, the couple also used the wood indoors. And for aesthetic continuity, the timber terrace was also designed in Kebony Clear.