Douglas fir is one of the most widely used timbers in French construction. Architects are turning to it increasingly for building structures, decking, cladding and interiors.
Douglas presses all the right buttons for the modern specifier; it has the looks, it performs inside and out and it is irrefutably sustainable. It is one of the most ubiquitous species in the French forest and has its own marketing and information organisation, France Douglas, (www.france-douglas.com), which lists supplier members on line and also runs a Douglas industry conference.
Producers are also increasingly looking to export markets, including the UK. Hence France Douglas’s recent production of an English marketing leaflet (www.francedouglas.com/assets/components/francedouglas/images/mediatheque/plaquettes /FD_plaquette_export_EN_planches.pdf).
There is plenty to go round, as the new pamphlet emphasises. The rise of French Douglas fir must rank as one of the most remarkable stories of reafforestation. It was introduced initially after WWII to repair deforested and degraded areas of woodland, with planting peaking in the 70s and 80s. Today France has 420,000ha of Douglas fir forest, comprising 130 million m3 of standing timber and growing at 6 million m3 a year. Sawn timber production in 2017 was over 1 million m3, or 16% of French softwood production, and that’s set to grow to over 2.5 million m3 and 33% by 2040. That’s more than half total UK softwood production, in one species. It already makes France the biggest producer outside North America.
Through France Douglas, producers have an R&D programme to expand its use still further, making particular headway in treatment and finishing.
Mills have also focused on product standardisation, notably for the construction sector, helping, they say, ensure uniform quality and customer confidence.
The industry’s website now has a ream of case studies too, for all sorts of applications, aiming to inspire more architects and designers in Europe and beyond to do it in French Douglas.
