Mr Van Herreweghe comments: ‘Roasting gives you a 3D effect in any case, and clients are picking that up in interior design. What it boils down to is that you always get more or less relief when you burn the wood. This creates a “charcoal” layer on the surface, which is given a finish so that no black particles are emitted.’

‘The type of relief depends mainly on the sort of wood which you burn. For instance, wood sorts such as douglas or larch soon give you relief if you brush them after the burning. Other wood sorts such as the very popular thermowood ayous stay a lot flatter after brushing, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any relief at all. If you run your hand over the surface, you can feel this clearly and something like this satisfies the modern yearning for “caressability” of a material.’

Two important aspects
‘It’s important to remember that roasted wood is all about two aspects. On the one hand, you have the roasted, natural, and black effect and, on the other hand, there’s the brushed product in every possible variant which can be coloured. The options are infinite and that appeals to people.’

Since the proof of the pudding is in the eating, Mr Van Herreweghe illustrates the above with some recent projects. For instance, recently there was a project by a well known architect in Deurle (B), a perfect example of a flat brushed surface.

Mainly in the upper segment
‘This project illustrates the use of roasted wood as 3D wall furnishing perfectly and also indicates how it often occurs in the middle to upper segments of the market. This architect, Benoit Viaene, used special thermowood ayous, washed and waxed it, and the end result was used as furnishing for a lounge with a bar and open hearth.’

‘We find an example of a brushed surface with much more relief in the furnishing of a food truck. Here De Vitrinair (Gregg Van Malderen) worked together with the client with roasted and subsequently brushed larch wood, which was rounded off with a waterproof treatment. In that connection I can also mention a project by AD Bouwteam at Chocolaterie Dossche in De Pinte (Belgium). They worked with accoya, both indoors and outside, and finished the medium roasted wood with Rubio Monocoat Sealer 707 Matt Black.’

‘There might possibly be a major project shortly for the Japanese architect Terunobu Fujimori, whom you can call the father of Yaki Sugi in some respects. Fujimori contacted us for an initial project with roasted wood which he has in Belgium, in Terhulpen, but we don’t have any more details as yet. However, you can certainly assume that it’ll be about the use of natural objects in 3D.’

How does Bart Van Herreweghe see this 3D wall furnishing market developing?

‘It’s obvious that it’ll continue to grow because it fits in so well with the spirit of the age. People long for unique and original items which are as natural as possible and roasted wood fits in perfectly. We certainly find that demand is still growing and I’m expecting things to stay that way for some time.’