Some specifications want the character of a single log, with the variation and movement that comes from natural growth. Others need a pattern that holds steady across a long wall, a second phase, or a reorder placed a year later. Recons are the SanFoot product built to deliver that consistency.
How Recons Are Made
Recons start with plantation-grown FSC hardwood logs, most often Poplar, Obeche, or Basswood. The logs are rotary cut, then run through a dye bath. The dyes are water-based, and the immersion process incorporates specialized, non-toxic pigments that resist UV fading, so the color holds up well against sun exposure. That dye carries all the way through the thickness of the leaf rather than sitting on the surface. The dyed veneer leaves are glued and pressed into a mold to form a block, and that block is then sliced into veneer faces.
Those faces are pressed onto a SanFoot Class A fire rated backer and prefinished, allowing every sheet to be delivered with the same premium construction and factory finish customers expect from all SanFoot products. Because the block is assembled before it is sliced, the pattern is defined during manufacturing rather than inherited from the growth of one tree, which is what allows Recons to hold a consistent pattern across a large order.
What a Repeatable Pattern Makes Possible
Recons hold consistent grain and color from sheet to sheet, and from one order to the next. Large matching runs are available because the pattern does not depend on the yield of a single flitch, which changes what is achievable on a project covering thousands of square feet.
This is also why Recons are the product to specify when a project calls for a continuous blueprint match. Natural veneer covering a large area draws from multiple flitches, and a blueprint match cannot be guaranteed across them. Recons can repeat a single defined pattern, so the match holds. Patterns available include Quartered for straight grain, Flat Cut for a cathedral with crowns, and Plank for split heart quarters, with 27 Recons options in the current catalog.
Continuous Matching at Scale
At Echo Condominium in Aventura, Florida, PMG and Carlos Ott worked with Yabu Pushelberg to specify Recon Indian Rosewood Flat Cut across 43,000 square feet, direct glued to gypsum. The veneer was slip matched in a deep warm red tone, and because the ceiling height exceeded 10 feet, a seam was needed to reach full height. That joint was planned into the installation so the wall still read as monolithic from floor to ceiling across large spans.
The scale is what makes the project useful as an example. Echo is a two-tower development with two separate lobbies, each running the length of two football fields. A pattern had to hold across that distance without drifting in color or character, and the repeatability built into Recons is what allowed it.
Choosing Between Recons and Natural Veneer
Both are natural wood veneer, prefinished and are Class A fire rated. The decision comes down to what the specification needs. A project that wants the character of a particular log points toward natural veneer. A project that needs a pattern to remain consistent across a large area or a later phase points toward Recons. FSC Mix 70% (FSC Certified) is available on most Recons patterns, so sustainability is always part of the project.
For guidance on whether Recons or natural veneer suits the pattern requirements of a project, contact Jacaranda.
