Lonza Wood Protection’s TANALITH E wood preservative has been used to treat and protect the wood frame supporting an innovative and striking timber house, known as Daylighthouse 2, in a scenic lakeside location in The Netherlands.
TANALISED E pressure-treated timber can be specified for both in and out of ground contact applications where there is a medium to high risk of decay or insect attack. It provides effective long-term protection against fungal and insect attacks and has proven performance.
The house was designed as a perfect cube of 9x9m by a team from Mirck Architecture, led by Sander Mirck, who explains: "We chose the TANALISED E WaxedWood with a built-in water repellent because it carries a 30-year warranty, and has the best colour, strength and texture for the project; we needed a wood that we could use for load-bearing parts of the building, as well as for the facade."
Daylighthouse 2 is an open-plan house with three split-level floors. The timber frame, made of FSC certified larch TANALISED E WaxedWood from Foreco of Dalfsen, was prefabricated to cut the time needed to construct the house. The treated frame supports, wooden cladding and joinery are also made from TANALISED E WaxedWood, and the ceilings of untreated okoumé (gaboon) wood. The white-painted window frames are meranti, an Asian hardwood.
Located on the shores of Ijsselmeer, the largest artificial lake in Western Europe, Daylighthouse 2 overlooks a marsh populated with wild birds. The architect designed the house to blend into the local environment and to make the most of the natural light, including large windows, a full glass facade on the south-west side of the ground floor and a glass-roofed winter garden. The roof terrace has amazing views across the lake and over to Amsterdam and Marken.
The project was constructed by Bouwbedrijf Jadi, based in Genemuiden, and took around a year to build, at an overall cost of about €230,000.