SAN DIEGO—Kirei’s new recycled millwork panel collection illustrates the phrase “one man’s trash is another’s treasure.” The Pacific Coastal Collection redwood and blue pine millwork panels are built using falloff from flooring or casework manufacture and waste wood from beetle-killed pine trees from across the western United States. The result is a set of design materials that turn industrial waste components into new eco-friendly interior design looks.
“The material no one wants is our gold—to us it’s where the real beauty lies,” says John Stein, Kirei owner.
To make the Pacific Coastal Collection, discarded redwood falloff pieces are planed to shape and bonded with the age-old finger-jointing technique to create unique patterned panels with varying mixes of deep red heartwood and lighter colored sapwood. The process creates a variety of color and pattern mixes highlighting the natural beauty of redwood and the patterns resulting from the finger jointing process.
The Pacific Coastal Collection blue pine panels recover beauty from a different source. The pine forests of Western North America are being devastated by the bark beetle, which is now surviving warmer winters where colder seasons used to keep their populations under control. The beetle-affected trees ultimately are becoming a sea of dead trees—and seemingly, waste. Large stands of beetle-affected trees are felled, and the clear pine desired for most millwork is harvested. What’s not used is the wood that has been turned blue by the action of the beetle. This material is a striking grayish-blue shade not typically associated with wood, and when cut exhibits the wormlike borings of the beetles as they do their work.
Kirei’s Pacific Coastal Collection panels are bonded with Ecobind Zero-VOC resin technology, and are manufactured in Southern California. They are suited for wall paneling, casework, tables, retail fixtures, restaurant, hospitality and residential design. Due to the unique nature of the wood – all panels will vary slightly in natural design.
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