Kebony
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Kebony
photo
Anthony Hill
Designed by Mandaworks
for the Malmö Municipality,
this project is a triumph of
landscaping architecture,
weaving together infrastructure
to create a new area for urban
ecology and recreational space.
Following the outright ban
imposed upon tropical
hardwood in Stockholm, and
a growing trend in European
cities of legislating against,
and voluntarily avoiding the
use of timber imported from
the tropics in public projects,
Mandaworks wanted to ensure
that the materials chosen
were sourced from sustainably
managed, non-tropical forests.
Kebony’s sustainable wood
was therefore selected for
the ‘urban hang-out’ benches
along the promenade, due to
the material’s positive impact
in reducing demand for high
performance tropical timber.
A recent study by
environmental consulting firm
Bergfald & Co. demonstrated
that Kebony has a substantially
lower carbon footprint than its
tropical hardwood equivalents.
The study shows that the
carbon footprint for clear-fell
Brazilian Ipê is in the range
of 7,500–15,000 kilograms
per cubic metre; whilst the
carbon footprint of Kebony is
approximately 459 kilograms
per cubic meter, both figures
include treatment and
transportation to Northern
Europe.
This paves the way for a
future in which wood is an
integral and, most importantly,
sustainable part of the
construction industry.
Landscape & Urban Design Issue 21
9