Accoya® wood has been selected to provide decking for one of just twenty six gardens on display at Europe’s most renowned garden events the Chaumont-sur-Loire International Garden Show.
Architectural designer Hay Joung, of London firm Randle Siddeley Associates has been selected to showcase her garden concept, which features Accoya Deck and is entitled ‘The Balance’. The design of the garden reflects the paths in life which lead to temptation or avoidance of the deadly sins.
The garden includes stone monoliths which represent the seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues connected by wooden decked paths, crafted from Accoya wood. There are also ‘see-saw’ structures of Accoya which connect different sides of the garden and which symbolise the need for balance in life.
Supplied by Accoya distributor Teck Ethik, Accoya was the ideal choice of material for this resort and was selected over competing hardwood and composite decking materials.
Thermography tests, which were carried out in Japan by the Hiroshima Prefectural Technology Research Institute, assessed the differences and compared the thermal gain of uncoated Accoya decking to thermally modified wood and wood plastic composites. The results showed Accoya is superior having a low thermal gain while the other materials attained significantly higher surface temperatures; the Accoya decking remained cool to touch despite being in direct sunlight on a day with an ambient temperature of 32 degrees Celsius.
This particular Accoya decking benefit is very crucial to the visitors of the Thai resort and further contributing to the barefoot friendly credentials, Accoya decking’s surface remains smooth, resists splintering and grain raising, despite the high ambient temperatures.