BONA products were used to install and finish what’s described as a truly unique wood floor at the HQ of Dutch landscaping firm, Krinkels, in Breda, Netherlands.
The floor was created by Jakko Woudenberg who is part of the Bona Certified Contractor network in the Netherlands and who’s been installing more standard types of wood floors for 20 years. Recently he set up a new company, Dutch Wood Artist, which he says takes him into a different world and allows him to ‘create art with his work’.
He said: ‘At the end of 2018 architect Paul de Ruiter asked me if it was possible to create a wood floor that looked like the annual growth rings of a tree. Almost immediately a picture appeared in my head and I knew how to make it. With no drawing and working totally free hand, we knew we were doing something that had never been done before. At first our pace was very slow, but steadily the rings started growing with us and our vision became clearer. We were creating something very special, something unique!’
The two floors connected by an Oak staircase, took Jakko and three colleagues six weeks to complete and used 280sq m of underfloor, a pallet of Bona Titan silane-based adhesive and 33km of Oak and Teak 9x9mm strips.
The team used a Bona FlexiSand machine to finely sand the surface, before finishing and protecting it with a neutral version of low VOC Bona Craft Oil.
Jakko added: ‘When we’d completed the two floors, somehow the existing Oak staircase didn’t make sense anymore. So, we asked ourselves if it was possible to extend the annual rings to the stairs. And there was another picture in my head – and a new challenge because the rings on the upper and lower floors were different.’
Jakko rented a building where he could create the stairs flat. He made moulds and took photos of where the floors would meet the stairs so he knew exactly where the new rings would be placed. Matching the risers was also a tricky visual challenge.
When the prefab stairs were taken to site fortunately everything matched perfectly, and the visual effect was exactly what Jakko was looking for.
He said: ‘I installed the connecting steps and checked if our calculations were correct. Fortunately, everything matched perfectly, and the visual effect was exactly what I was looking for. Once the stairs connected the two floors, a true work of art appeared before our eyes.’
The tree and green walls in the reception area were supplied by Krinkels BV themselves. The building is designed by Paul de Ruiter Architects.
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