Durable and low-maintenance wooden cladding

The use of wood as a decorative element for the facade is taking off and becoming more and more of a specialty. So says Luciën Arends, director of Houtimport Best. "There is much more to it than sec supplying wood. Reason for us to start HIB Facades, a company with a lot of technical facade expertise, with which we focus entirely on supplying (wooden) facade cladding in all possible facets." In its short existence, HIB Gevels has already experienced many beautiful projects, such as Booking's headquarters in Amsterdam, Barli's new home in Uden and many other large and small projects.

HIB Facades is a sister company of Houtimport Best, a renowned player in the timber industry since the 1960s. "With Houtimport Best we import (hard)wood and sheet materials from all over the world," says Arends enthusiastically, who took over the company from the then family just under three years ago. "At that time, the trend of using wood in the facade was already on the rise. However, it is a profession in its own right, a specialty. You have to understand it," he acknowledges. "Reason for us to establish a separate entity in the form of HIB Facades and also attract qualified, technical facade specialists." 

Wood is in our DNA

And so it happened. "Since September 1, 2020, we have been supplying a wide variety of projects with our extensive facade program on a project-by-project basis," says Arends. "The goal we have set for ourselves we will more than achieve this year. We are experiencing explosive growth and focusing mainly on wooden cladding, because we understand it. It's in our DNA. We make grateful use of the 65 years of experience and exclusive purchasing channels of Houtimport Best. This means that we can easily offer 15 to 20 wood species for facade cladding, whether or not thermally modified, profiled and fire-retardant treated. From a facade cladding for fence or shed to complete office and apartment complexes, we are open to anything and work with regular (assembly) partners."

Modified Fraké

In its still young existence, HIB Facades has already been able to supply many beautiful projects. Arends: "Just before the summer, we clad the exterior of the new headquarters for the company Barli in Uden with modified Fraké. The entire structural shell is made of wood. For the pinewood columns on the outside, we prefabricated U-profiles in modified Fraké (laminated and finger-joined) that were pushed over the columns on site. The fascia boards were also clad in modified Fraké. A beautiful project. The same goes for Booking's new headquarters in Amsterdam, for which we will soon be supplying a good number of square meters of American red oak as cladding, fully fire-retardant treated. Samples are now being tested in the laboratory for the requested 60-minute fire resistance requirement."

HIB Facades' ambitions don't lie. "We want to grow into a high-quality facade specialist that focuses primarily on specials. Mainly wood, but we do not rule out embracing other materials in time." To be continued, then, no doubt!