Helgeland Kraft’s Øvre Forsland Power Station by Stein Hamre Architects wins by popular vote
NEW YORK, April 13, 2016 – Kebony, a Norwegian company providing a sustainable alternative to tropical hardwood, today announced it has been honored with an Architizer A+ Award in “Architecture +Sustainability.” Stein Hamre Architects chose Kebony wood for the exterior on Helgeland Kraft’s Øvre Forsland Power Station, which is also referred to as the world’s most beautiful hydraulic power plant.
The power station was selected as the winner by popular vote from a group of five finalists. The Architizer A+ Awards program is the largest of its kind, focused on promoting and celebrating the greatest architectural achievements of the past year. Their mission is to nurture the appreciation of meaningful architecture in the world and champion its potential for a positive impact on everyday life.
Øvre Forsland is situated deep within the mountains of Helgeland, a hiker’s paradise just below the Arctic Circle. The region is known for its unique coastline and spectacular mountain formations. The plant sits on the river bank, in a clearing at the edge of a spruce forest. A main inspiration for the design was the verticality and the irregularity of the spruce trees. Along with extensive use of stone, slate, and glass on the exterior, Kebony wood is used for cladding.
“This award is a testament to our hard work in sustainable, green building efforts, as well as our good cooperation with Stein Hamre Arkitektkontor,” said Christian Jebsen, Kebony CEO. “We are proud to be recognized as a leader in sustainability, especially given the other incredible projects showcased in this category.”
The Kebony technology permanently modifies the properties of softwood, giving it the same characteristics and cellular makeup of the most durable tropical hardwoods. This modified wood stands up to extreme weather conditions and was an ideal building material for the power station, especially considering the design characterizes the surrounding environment. Kebony wood develops a natural, grey patina, giving architects at Stein Hamre an aesthetically pleasing material to complement the beauty of the forest landscape.
For more details and a full list of Architizer A+ Award winners, visit http://awards.architizer.com/. To learn more about Kebony technology for building and sustainability projects, visit http://kebony.com/en.
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Twitter: @KebonyWood
About *Kebony Technology
The Kebony technology is a patented process which enhances the properties of non-durable wood species to give them similar characteristics to the best performing woods. Through a sustainable process wood species such as pines and some non-durable hardwoods are impregnated with a bio-based liquid derived from agricultural crop waste. With the addition of heat, the furfuryl polymer is permanently grafted into the wood cell wall, resulting in greatly improved durability and dimensional stability.
About *Kebony Wood
Kebony is suitable for both internal and external applications that demand high performance and great aesthetics including: decking, flooring, cladding, roofing, windows, indoor and outdoor furniture. Over time Kebony acquires its characteristic silver-grey patina while not losing its performance characteristics. With improved durability and dimensional stability Kebony is becoming increasingly the choice of leading architects and developers enabling them to use wood in projects without causing environmental degradation. Kebony has been used both internationally and in the U.S. on many projects from commercial, public, residential and marine, a few examples of these would be; Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park in New York, The Inn at Harbor Shores in St. Joseph Michigan, an award-winning residential “Wedge House” in Palo Alto, California. A recent study by Norwegian environmental consulting firm Bergfald & Co. demonstrated that Kebony has a substantially lower carbon footprint than its tropical hardwood equivalents.