46 | Panel Perspectives: Medite Smartply value-added OSB applications
ADDING VALUE TO CONSTRUCTION
An innovative housing development in Leeds, England is using value-added OSB panels to further energy-efficiency and sustainability
T
he MEDITE SMARTPLY OSB factory in Ireland has been a hive of investment in recent years, with major technological overhauls helping to produce a bigger range of high quality products. The Waterford factory was originally built in 1996 as a joint venture between Louisiana Pacific (LP) and Irish state forestry company Coillte. Coillte took sole control in 2002 and expanded into MDF by acquiring the MEDITE MDF factory from Weyerhaeuser at Clonmel in 2006. The Waterford facility was not the first
OSB plant to be established in the UK and Ireland – that right belongs to the plant in Inverness currently operated by West Fraser. Since 2016 the company has invested significant sums upgrading production, with
an initial spend of €59m seeing new forming and finishing lines with a Siempelkamp continuous press. This helped in making the OSB panels smoother and flatter. A further €44m investment was invested
to upgrade drying and screening, plus build a new biomass energy plant.
The facility, which has a design capacity of 500,000m3
, will be approaching its
30th anniversary in 2026. The company’s innovative strategy and array of value- added products are seeing a growing list of applications.
A quick recap shows how SMARTPLY’s list of
value-added products has grown. For high strength and performance,
SMARTPLY ULTIMA is an OSB4 panel designed for the most demanding structural applications in offsite manufacturing and construction. SMARTPLY PATTRESS PLUS is a high strength OSB3 panel with a continuous recess – a ready prepared modular panel that speeds up installation of pattressing. The Max DB product focuses on sound reduction qualities, helping to achieve 40dB building regulation requirement. SMARTPLY STRONGDECK is a 30mm
thick tongue and groove OSB4 panel for mezzanine flooring and heavy-duty racking. SMARTPLY SITEPROTECT is a pre-primed
OSB3 board that speeds up installation of site hoarding and comes ready to paint. Two further products – SMARTPLY
Above left: Finished low carbon timber houses by Citu in Leeds Above right: The AIRTIGHT combined sheathing and vapour control panel in the Leeds development WBPI | August/September 2025 |
www.wbpionline.com
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