Shipshape: A Museum Clad in Sustainable Wood

It’s smooth sailing for sustainability advocates when it comes to the recently completed National Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, Germany. Developed by Haslob Kruse + Partners, the museum is clad in sustainably sourced Character wood by Kebony, which is joined together in a pattern to resemble the hull of a ship. This modern, eco-conscious building casts a large wake, with almost 25,000 square feet of depot space and more than 60,000 precious maritime artifacts and 380,000 archival materials.

A global leader in the production of environmentally friendly wood, Kebony has pioneered wood-processing technology that heats sustainably sourced softwoods with furfuryl alcohol, an agricultural by-product, modifying them to maintain the same durable properties of industrial hardwoods without the need for extensive deforestation. The wood is cost-effective and rugged, ensuring the museum will be a tightly run ship for years to come.