veneer

The Egyptians first developed wood veneer over
5000 years ago. The Egyptian culture of that time
prized wood for its beauty and rarity. It was valued
as highly as precious gems. Logs of ebony,
mahogany and other exotic woods were imported
from far away at great cost, which made it
desirable to utilize the supplies in the most
economical manner. To maximize the yield from
these precious logs, they were sawed into very thin
boards, an extremely demanding and time-
consuming task. These thin boards were then used
together with pear and ivory to cover surfaces of
furniture and caskets constructed of less valued
wood. The process resulted in exquisite and
sophisticated detail using a minimum of material.

corrugation

In the 1820's, architect and engineer Henry Palmer
developed corrugated iron as a building material for the
London Docking Company. He found that bending the
metal in a regular pattern of hills and valleys increased
strength and reduced weight.

The idea spread around the world and to different metals,
particularly galvanized steel and aluminum. In the 1870's,
the first commercial corrugated paper boxes were
produced, and early in the 21st century, wood was
successfully corrugated in Canada.

Corrugated metal sheets for roofs and walls are one of
the most common building materials used around the world.

plywood

We have learned that what we call plywood has an ancient
history and was developed independently in a number of
different locations. Evidence has been found, for example,
in both Egyptian and Chinese cultures of layered wood
products that date from thousands of years ago.

The general principles of modern plywood were worked out
by both the French and English in the 17th and 18th
centuries. All the early, modern-era plywood was made
from decorative hardwoods and most commonly used in
the manufacture of household items, such as cabinets,
chests, desk tops, and doors.

The first patent for plywood as we know it today was
issued December 26, 1865, to John K. Mayo of New York
City. It would take another 40 years before the first
commercial production of plywood would take place.

The inspiration was a World’s Fair to be held in Portland,
Oregon in1905, as part of the 100th anniversary
celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which
played a key role in opening up the Western part of the
United States. The Portland Manufacturing Company, a
small wooden box factory, was asked to display some of
their products at the Fair, and the owner Gustav Carlson
decided the occasion deserved something new and
different. He laminated three layers of Douglas Fir
together using the simple tools of paint brushes as glue
spreaders and house jacks as presses. The “3-ply
veneer work,” as he called it was a big hit with the public
and with manufacturers of doors, cabinets and trunks,
who placed orders. By 1907, Portland Manufacturing had
increased their production to 420 panels a day giving birth
to a new industry. Plywood is now produced in countries
around the world.

corelam

corelam™ from Greenhus located in Vancouver, BC
Canada is a multi-use corrugated veneer plywood panel
product. Made with renewable Canadian and U.S based
FSC veneers and laminated with cutting edge adhesives
and finishes, corelam™ sets new standards in efficient
and socially responsible processes from manufacturing to
product. corelam™’s innovative design provides interior
designers and architects with cost effective solutions
within a wide array of architectural applications such as
walls, ceilings, doors, furniture, partition systems, and
acoustic engineering.

mission

The corelam™ family of products is made for the benefit
of all people, anywhere. Our ambition is to develop and
make things that are useful and beautiful, things that
appeal to young and old, east and west.

The design thinking behind corelam™ places the highest
value on delivering maximum benefit with the minimum of
materials. More for less.

We make our products from wood:
because it grows
because it is beautiful
because it makes sense to us
because it offers endless variations.

We have promised ourselves and our children:
we will do no harm, not to people, not to the land, not to
the water or the air. We are smart enough to know we
can never make anything as beautiful and useful as a
leaf. We are fools enough to try.

team profile

Christian Blyt
Tak Shinyei
Bonny Billups

Christian Blyt

Christian Blyt is an Associate Professor in Industrial Design
and Coordinator of the Innovations in Wood Design Program
at Emily Carr University. He received his MA in Interior
Architecture and Furniture Design from the University of Arts
and Design in Helsinki, Finland and is a graduate of the Wood
Product Manufacturing program of British Columbia Institute of
Technology. His work encompasses a wide range of
international experiences in different segments of the wood
design and manufacturing industry both in Canada and
internationally. Christian is a founding member of the Bark
Design Collective whom organized and produced exhibitions
of Canadian design in Tokyo, London, and Vancouver. He is a
founding partner (with his wife Marja Koskela) in the design
and manufacturing firm Greenhus Designs Ltd., which is
developing sustainable products with worldwide applications,
including corelam™, the patented wood panel product first
developed by Christian for his Masters thesis in Helsinki.

Tak Shinyei

Tak Shinyei is a self-proclaimed “Jack of all trades” with an
extremely diverse background in design and concept
development. Starting with his first design business at 15 he
has spent the last 20 years working on projects and starting
businesses that span Web design, Product design, Product
visualization, Interior design, Graphic design, CAD design,
Video/Audio design, Clothing design and Art installation. Tak
joined the corelam™ team in 2004 as the Development and
Marketing Coordinator. He brought the enthusiasm, energy,
and experience to deliver all aspects of design, marketing,
media production, site supervision and proposal writing to the
corelam™ table and continues to be an invaluable company
asset in the day to day operations.

Bonny Billups

Bio coming soon.