April Vignette - Pollen
Love it or hate it, it's descended upon us - signaling spring and flourishing plant life.
From bottom to top:
-TorZo Hemp Recycled Hemp Panel, Natural
-ECOFusion Engineered Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring, Natural
-Durat, Recycled Solid Surface, #110
-TorZo Durum Recycled Wheat Panel, Natural
-Meld ecoX Handcrafted Concrete and Recycled Glass Slabs, Buttercup
-Durat, Recycled Solid Surface, #090
-Bark House Twig
March Vignette - Cherry Blossom
Trees are beginning to flower and the National Cherry Blossom Festival is just a couple of weeks away. Here's how to bring that spring spirit indoors. From left to right:
-Bark House Pin Cherry Panel
-TorZo Orient Recycled Wood Panel, Ruby
-Durat, Recycled Solid Surface, #150
-Meld luxe Handcrafted Concrete and Recycled Glass Slabs, Natural
-ECOFusion Solid Lock Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring, Frost
February Vignette - Here Comes The Sun
The doldrums of winter have us dreaming of basking in warmth and sun. From back to front:
-TorZo Orient Recycled Wood Panel, Natural
-Meld Xposed Handcrafted Concrete Slabs, Saddleback
-Oceanside Recycled Glass Tile, Tessera, Meringue
-Bark House Yellow Birch Panel
-EcoFusion Strand Wood Eucalyptus Flooring, Strawgrass
-Durat, Recycled Solid Surface, #620
Ashley Furniture Installs Bark House Feature WallÂ
A newly opened Ashley Furniture HomeStore in Raleigh, NC, installed a Bark House feature wall in their showroom. They used Bark House's Poplar Bark Interior Shingles in 26" lengths with random widths. Their Visual Showroom Merchandiser told us that all of the art they had displayed on the wall had sold and he was in the midst of restyling it.
Bark House shingles come in three different grades: Standard, Premium, and Interior. The siding is Cradle to Cradle certified and made from bark obtained from sustainable foresters in the Appalachians harvesting yellow poplar for the plywood and furniture industries. Bark House obtains bark that would otherwise be discarded, or ground into low-grade mulch, and instead turn it into a unique and long-lasting finish material. These shingles can be used both inside and outside. Bark shingles can last up to 80 years and are maintenance free. Large Poplar panels are also available.
November Vignette - Farewell to Fall
Less than a month left of fall! This vignette embodies the colors of the season and the warmth we're clinging to.
-Bark House, Sanded Poplar Panel
-Oceanside Glasstile, Tessera Mosaics Recycled Glass Tile, Harvest Iridescent
-TorZo Tiikeri, Bronze
-Meld Luxe, Handcrafted Concrete and Recycled Glass Slabs, Slate
-Durat, Recycled Solid Surface, #730
October Vignette - Witchy
Our Halloween-inspired vignette from back to front:
-Meld Micro, Handcrafted Concrete and Recycled Glass Slabs, Uber Black
-Bark House, White Birch Bark Laminate Panel
-Eco-Terr Tile, Bergamo Black
-Durat, Recycled Solid Surface, #730
-Oceanside Glasstile, Tessera Mosaics Recycled Glass Tile, Pewter Iridescent
August Vignette - Sultry
It’s the last month of summer and we alternate between excitement for fall and clinging to the last sultry days of the season. This vignette dips a toe in both seasons with hot reds and moody purples grounded by neutral grays. From top to bottom:
-Bark House, White Pine Bark Laminate Panel (background)
-TorZo Parda, Recycled, FSC Certified, & NAF Wood Fiber Sheets, Amethyst
-Meld Luxe, Handcrafted Concrete and Recycled Glass Slabs, Slate
-Oceanside Glasstile, Tessera Mosaics Recycled Glass Tile, Disco Inferno
Creation of Twig Walls at Bida Manda Nurtures Community
Bida Manda, which means father and mother in Sanskrit, is a new Laotian restaurant in Raleigh, NC. Owners, brother and sister Vansana and Vanvisa Nolintha, named the restaurant to honor their parents in Laos who instilled in them the belief of nurturing relationships through food. Interestingly, through the process of building their restaurant they also nurtured relationships with friends and the local community who came together to help create twig walls made from branches provided by CaraGreen and Bark House.
Matthew Griffith of in situ studio, architects for Bida Manda, shared the design story with us. He said that their client was amazing and came to them with a mood book full of images. They also had art and personal items from their parents and Laos, which they wanted to integrate into the space. A theme in their mood book was repetitive natural materials. The team was immediately drawn to pictures of Pio Pio restaurant designed by Sebastian Mariscal, which uses branches for the walls and ceiling. Kim Wike, CaraGreen’s triangle representative, stopped by in situ studio at just the right time as they were beginning the project and told them about Bark House who provides everything tree, from twigs to bark panels. CaraGreen and Bark House ended up supplying 3 tons of sticks to clad Bida Manda's walls and the ceiling over the bar including locust, oak, maple, sourwood, and birch species, which are all native to NC. Twigs were specified in 1”-3” diameters and as straight as possible.
Griffith told CaraGreen that the sticks were the hardest element to figure out because the restaurant was not sprinklered and it’s an assembly space, so materials had to be Class A fire rated. After many hours of research they found an intumescent varnish that would make the material fireproof and remain clear. After working with the city, and hiring an independent testing engineer to verify the process, they were able to move forward with their twig wall design plan. Budget dictated that the twigs would go in two places; a long wall that surrounds the main dining area and wraps the back wall, which is interrupted by a large display of the Nolinthas’ art, and, on the back bar wall which folds and become the ceiling. Griffith said that when sitting at the bar “you feel like you’re in a nest or womb of sticks”.
The twig walls required 750 hours to install. To reduce costs, Vansana and Vanvisa worked with friends to install the sticks. Over forty people helped and through the process, the Bida Manda family grew and it became a sort of community design project. To install the branches, they applied furring strips to the wall, which they then applied rabbit wire overtop. Everything was painted gray. Then, rather primitively, wire twists were used to attach the branches to the rabbit wire, which were then tucked out of sight. There was not a set plan of how to apply the branches and in the feel of the moment they decided to create some undulations around the bar giving it even more texture.
Sustainability was important on this project, which was a renovation of an existing space. Griffith said it was a “musical chairs of what was already there” and they reused as much as possible. Local artists and crafts people provided everything from art to reclaimed wood tables. Water based sealer was used for the concrete floors. LED strip lighting was used to illuminate the display cases containing art. Antiques were integrated into the space. And, the branches were sustainably and locally sourced from Bark House who is a certified B Corporation.
Bida Manda is located at 222 South Blount Street in Raleigh, NC.
The Bida Manda project team includes:
Client: Vansana and Vanvisa Nolintha
Architect: in situ studio
PME Engineer: Diversified Consulting Group
Contractor: Southeastern Properties and Development Company
Graphic Designer: Jaime Van Ward, Ketchup and Mustard
Prints: Spoon Flower
Textile Art: Shelly Smith
T-shirts + Decals: Ahpeele Studios
June Vignette - Beach Comber
This bleached and peached vignette makes us yearn for some beach combing with its colors that bring to mind sand, shells, and driftwood. From left to right:
-TorZo Hemp, Recycled and Rapidly Renewable Hemp Fiber Sheets, Natural
-Meld Xposed, Handcrafted Concrete Slabs, Cashmere
-Durat, recycled solid surface, color 660
-Bark House Twigs, maple, hickory, and red oak
April Vignette - Nest
Twigs, leaves, bits of string and plastic, all make their way into nests to provide structure and softness. This vignette mimics that through materials with a dash of robin's egg blue. From back to front:
-Barkhouse Sanded Poplar Panels
-TorZo Tiikeri Recycled Sorghum Straw Sheets, Turquoise
-Meld Micro Recycled Glass and Concrete Slabs, Saddleback
-Durat recycled solid surface for horizontal or vertical surfaces, color 280
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