13 Boldly Textured Homes That Bet Big on Oriented Strand Board
Architects and designers have long turned to industrial materials like steel and plywood to create long-lasting projects on tight budgets—and lately we’ve seen a rising trend toward oriented strand board (OSB) interiors.
Like its cousins plywood and particleboard, OSB is an engineered wood that was born in postwar America, when many new construction materials were developed. OSB consists of compressed layers of large wood strands, or flakes, that are held together with adhesives, wax, and resin in specific orientations to create stability and strength. Due to these qualities, OSB is usually used as sheathing in walls, flooring, and roof decking—where it’s concealed by other finish materials—however adventurous architects and designers are also showcasing it front and center.
OSB’s irregular wood flakes give it a rough, variegated surface, which can be played up for a lively, unexpected texture. The material offers a unique combination of an industrial, almost unfinished aesthetic with earthy wood undertones. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite spaces that shine new light on this material that’s usually hidden in plain sight.
The interiors of this 1850s threshing barn in rural England are finished in OSB. The material, usually used as sheathing under exterior cladding, reminded the project’s architect Carl Turner of the straw that was once held in the barn.
A large OSB structure with skylights, a bathroom, an enclosed baby’s room, and a master sleeping alcove dominates Ryan and Showalter’s Brooklyn loft.
Designed by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, this house is located in the outer region of the Stockholm archipelago. To keep expenses low, the architects opted for a simple gabled design and simple materials—the sheet metal facade and OSB walls within, for instance.
When Matthew Trzebiatowski and his wife Lisa designed their own home in Arizona, they created a bathroom whose extreme aesthetic matched the area’s extreme climate. The Trzebiatowskis’ bathroom retains the spirit of Arizona heat with its shocking magenta ceilings, floors, and walls. The vanity is anything but—featuring art instead of a mounted mirror—and is made from sanded and sealed OSB, a waste material typically used in framing.
Eco-designer Petz Scholtus focused on sustainable and recycled materials in the renovation of this 625-square-foot apartment in Barcelona. The bedroom houses a wardrobe constructed of OSB, which was selected because it contains minimal amounts of resin compared to other engineered woods.
OSB was the right choice for the interiors of Shipwreck Lodge, a low-impact boutique hotel in the sand dunes of Namibia’s coastline. Designed by Windhoek–based Nina Maritz Architects, the 20-bed property was constructed on a $2,000,000 budget that relied heavily on prefabrication to minimize environmental impact, and to ensure comfort for guests in the remote and extremely harsh desert.
Architect Florent Chagny renovated the top floor of an 1830s building in Paris with OSB, black steel, and a splash of bright blue.
In the basement of a Sag Harbor A-frame, Edgar Papazian installed light-colored walls and structural-grade OSB floors. "It’s derisively called ‘snot board’ in the industry," he notes. "But, it is a durable, visually pleasing solution that has aged very well."
A Wellington, New Zealand, couple loved their neighborhood of Berhampore, but found that with two young sons, they were running out of space. They called on Parsonson Architects to devise a 183-square-foot studio in the backyard of their two-bedroom Victorian cottage. Parsonson outfitted the interior walls, floor, and ceiling with OSB, while structural supports create an artful, geometric aesthetic.
The OSB-clad living and sleeping area leads to a bold blue bathroom in this renovated home in Albino, in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. The white fittings and fixtures in the bathroom echo the retro white cabinet handles used in the kitchen.
Minimizing both financial and economic waste, the SHED is a flexible dwelling that takes only one day to build or deconstruct. After it is deconstructed, it can be rebuilt in other buildings, filling derelict structures that would remain otherwise vacant. Composed of OSB, lamb’s wool insulation, and recycled polyester, the design is affordable and sustainable.
In Edinburgh’s historic New Town, a Georgian town house had its upper floor redone with black-painted OSB that still expresses its variegated texture.
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In the seaside city of Gdansk, Poland, an apartment was renovated with a bathroom clad in concrete and OSB. The OSB adds a decorative element, and it was waterproofed before installation to prepare it for wet environments.
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