Aboriginal shelters embrace premium CUTEK® timber coating

CUTEK® timber protection products are formulated to enhance the look and life-span of timber in an environmentally-friendly way.

GALLERY

CUTEK® Extreme CD50 became the protective coating of choice in the award-winning Taylor and Hinds Architects design – Krakani Lumi. CUTEK® Extreme CD50’s high performance properties demonstrate there is no need to sacrifice effectiveness or mask timber’s beauty as CUTEK® Extreme CD50 provides eco-friendly and powerful wood protection.

Krakani Lumi or ‘Place of Rest’, is located in William National Park, Tasmania. Commissioned by the Aboriginal Land Council, it serves as a standing camp for guided walks between Wukalina (Mt William) and Larapuna (Eddystone Point).

Traditional half-domed aboriginal shelters, made of arched branches and sheets of bark were the inspiration for the interior curved walls. Tasmanian blackwood, coated in CUTEK® Extreme CD50 with a Black Ash CUTEK® Colourtone, produces a rich tone that showcases the natural variations in timber grain and colour, overall adding to the depth and warmth of the shelters. The CUTEK® Extreme CD50 penetrates deep into the wood allowing the grain to not only be seen, but felt, with the surface unmasked.

Minimising the impact on surrounding native flora and fauna during the construction process was important an important factor. The structures individual buildings were partly fabricated offsite and airlifted into place via helicopter. Accomodating to the native wildlife, small hollows were designed within the wall cavities to provide shelter to native birdlife and hollow-dependent marsupials. The easy and low impact maintenance of CUTEK® Extreme CD50 requires no sanding or stripping and with a simply wash and recoat for a clean look, made it the logical material of choice for the project that not only looks beautiful in the landscape but aligns with the “minimal environmental disturbance” mantra of the project.

Krakani Lumi has a focus on energy efficiency, self-sufficiency and sustainability. The camp is off-grid; powered by solar and with its own water supply, yet design ingenuity facilitates a comfortable stay. The concealed pulley mechanism in the sleeping huts being just one example.

This focus is further augmented by the use of timber as the almost exclusive building material. Locally sourced structural timbers – Blackbutt, Tasmanian Blackwood and Tasmanian Oak – were utilised for their durability, appearance and narrative. Exposed to the harsh Tasmanian coastal environment, this natural material also provides low embodied energy and high thermal efficiency. Protecting with CUTEK® Extreme CD50 combats the often damp and wet conditions that lead to timber deacy (cupping, warping and splitting) to improve the long-term dimensional stability and overall long-term sustainability of the timber structures.

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