Why was western red cedar chosen?
“This wood was chosen because it’s an attractive facade material that fits in well with Skagershuset’s high ambitions. It felt appropriate to have a wooden facade, since the structural frame is also wood. The facade gives the building an exciting look that sets it apart from other, more ordinary developments,” explains Sarah Segerman.
What are its advantages?
“The wood cladding offers fantastic scope for variation, which Skagershuset’s architect Björn Ahrenby at OWC Arkitekter has exploited to superb effect. The cladding system is tried and tested – Sweden has a long tradition of using wooden facades. And of course there are also environmental benefits,” says Ulrika Lindencrona.
Are we going to see more buildings with wooden facades in our cities?
“Yes, the fireproofed cladding makes that a strong possibility. We’re going to see more examples of attractive wooden facades,” predicts Sarah Segerman.
How long did Skagershuset take to build?
“From groundwork to moving in took around 11 months. The building is made up of wooden box units that arrived on site with a high degree of prefabrication. Since the block stands in an existing residential area, it felt particularly important to keep the construction time as short as possible, which was one of the reasons for choosing this construction system,” says Sarah Segerman.
What type of maintenance is required?
“The advantage of this type of untreated wood cladding is that it doesn’t need maintenance in the form of repainting and so on. The idea is that the cladding will be allowed to change colour and becoming even more attractive as the years go by,” concludes Sarah Segerman.
