Bamboo and palm interior finishes manufacturer Smith & Fong has launched Simla, a hybrid panel derived from coconut and sugar palm.

“The history and culture of India offer wonderful inspiration for new designs and motifs in palm,” says Dan Smith, founder and CEO. “Simla is a colonial era hill station in the foothills of the Himalayas that functioned as the summer capital during British rule. It is today still sprinkled with lovely old wooden cottages from this period, and the design we have chosen is reminiscent of some of the weathered siding and interior panelling of these homes.”

Simla is fabricated using a 100% Indonesian coconut palm core, with face and back veneers made of Indian sugar palm. The panels, manufactured at Smith & Fong’s Formosa facility, utilise 100% formaldehyde-free adhesives and are finished in either hand-rubbed polyurethane or natural oil.

The company first began exploring palm as a resource 15 years ago, and, since then, has refined its sourcing and processing of the sustainable wood. Produced and fabricated both in the United states and abroad, Simla palm panels can contribute to USGBC LEED credit for Low-Emitting Materials and come standard with a Class C fire rating, though can also be ordered Class B.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in San Francisco, Smith & Fong was the first U.S. based company to manufacture and import laminated bamboo products under the Plyboo brand. Entering the palm market with the Durapalm branding in 2000, today Smith & Fong’s products are distributed throughout the Americas, Europe and the Middle East and Asia.

www.plyboo.co.uk