Mission and vision

Actually, we should stop immediately, with the current way of building. There are two reasons for this: people and the environment.

To start with humans, consider the indoor climate of many modern homes and buildings. They are regular sick buildings. It is not always possible to find out what the exact cause of the morbidity is, but what to think about mold formation, too high or too low humidity, glue vapors, windows that cannot open, which requires artificial aeration with filters that are often not replaced in a timely manner.

If you look at what we are doing with a little more distance, you will see that the modern way of building revolves around steel and concrete. Steel and cement companies are in the Top-3 of the most polluting industries in Europe. And the full top-10? It consists mainly of construction companies.

That we continue on the old foot is because we all have to live and think that building goes the way it goes. Now it is true that we all have to live, but what is not true is that we have to do so with the deployment of the current unimaginable amounts of concrete and steel. They pollute our planet and make us unhealthy. Not to mention the impressive piles of garbage on construction sites.

All these problems for people and the environment are serious, but at the same time they are not necessary. When you choose the ideal home. That is made of wood. And we are not talking about Wood where glue or nails are used or houses whose only skeleton is made of wood. We are talking about houses, all walls, floors and roof parts of which are made of pure, composite wood. In timber countries such as Germany and Austria, they have known this for hundreds of years, but hardly anyone in steenland Netherlands lives like this. There is some wood construction, but that often involves glued wood, CLT. That is not circular and is eventually added to the waste pile in an unusable way. Not the ideal house. That is circular, healthy, good for people and the environment.

How it could – switch to Wood
Is it wise to switch to Wood? Don't stones, concrete and steel have a big advantage over wood? Architect Marco Vermeulen says that it seems as if industrialization is by definition bound to stone, concrete and steel. But also says that the facts are ‘that Wood is a much better product for industrialization. It is more easily editable, reproducible and transportable.'By switching to Wood, according to Vermeulen, it is possible to achieve the ideal scenario faster in which the Dutch construction sector builds 60,000 to 70,000 homes per year.

The ideal home
Wood comes from the most natural plant there is, the forest. This wood factory runs on solar energy and provides building material that is constantly growing out of the ground. In the European forests, enough wood grows every 20 seconds for a house of 100 square meters. A tree that is cut down before it naturally falls over and decays brings more light into the forest for the other trees that can then grow better. After felling, two to three trees are replanted.

When it comes to people and the environment, wood construction wins over traditional construction. But with biobased wood construction you can not yet build the ideal, actually circular house. That's because modern wood construction is actually too modern. The solution is to restore old traditions and interweave them with new technology. So do not bluntly stick boards to each other with glue or fasten among themselves with aluminum nails. For the connoisseurs: no HSB (wood skeleton construction), no CLT (glued cross laminated timber), no LVL (laminated veneer lumber), no unnatural materials. Biobased, completely circular, with an eye for the details that matter. With the ideal house you wrap yourself in pure nature.