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Strong, tall, beautiful tropical hardwoods such as teak and mahogany, Brazilian walnuts and Rosewood are in ever-increasing demand.
Their stunning beauty, incredible strength and coveted rarity give these tropical hardwoods, along with almost 40 other species, a high value worldwide, with demand outstripping supply.
As well as being gorgeous to look at and work with, tropical hardwood is durable and resistant to both rot and insects.
Because of the time it takes for these trees to reach optimal density – upwards of 150 years.
All of these characteristics combine to make tropical hardwood a luxury material for our home design projects. Still, the associated expense has led to an illegal and devastating logging and deforestation industry around this precious resource.
There are few sustainable sources of these most coveted species of tropical hardwoods, most of which come from underwater.
Water Reclamation from reservoirs
Water reclaimed wood can refer to wood that has been underwater for a long time.
This underwater wood is most commonly found in Central and South America and Canada.
In Central and South America, underwater wood is usually found where ancient forests were flooded to create reservoirs. In contrast, the underwater wood is from decades-old felling projects in Canada.
The reservoirs in Central and South America were created decades ago to create water storage or to enable power generation.
Ancient forests were flooded to create expansive manmade bodies of water, but the abundance of wood tucked away below their surfaces is now a perfectly preserved, precious treasure.
Trees over 100 feet tall sit beneath the water’s surface, sometimes with telltale branches peaking above.
While the wood which is exposed to air decays, that which is swaddled by the water will remain intact, protected from oxygen, insects and harmful bacteria.
Water reclamation from riverbeds
Similar preservation occurs in Canada, but the wood there has been felled already.
For centuries, felled wood was transported by barge along the flowing rivers and often, logs would slip and sink before they made it to their intended destinations.
Some of these logs have lain on riverbeds for centuries, and an incredible underwater preservation process occurs.
Not only is the wood protected from the decaying effects of oxygen, but the pressure of the water forces the sap from the wood, increasing its solidity.
Reclaiming from water
The processes are similar whether the wood is being reclaimed from flooded woodland reservoirs or riverbeds.
Divers are sent out in barges with specialist underwater harvesting tools.
They dive in, seeking the treasure from the depths of the flooded forests or our ancestors’ lumber harvests.
The wood is carefully brought to the surface and can then be shipped to its new home, ready to breathe life and its stories into a new design project.
Environmental credentials of Water reclaimed wood
Water reclamation can be considered an ecological way of sourcing tropical woods because it doesn’t involve felling new living trees. Still, the story is slightly more complicated than this.
Although wood recovered from flooded forests or riverbeds is labelled ‘water reclaimed’, there are some questions in the industry as to whether it can be LEED certified as it is essentially a virgin product.
While reclaimed logs have not been felled for your specific project and wood from flooded forests may have otherwise gone unused, neither has been taken from a previous project and so it is challenging to label indeed ‘reclaimed wood’.
Despite this difficulty in labelling water-reclaimed wood, there is something uniquely magical in the story of timber is grown centuries ago, being perfectly preserved and uncovered before being brought into a home.
Summary
- Water-reclaimed wood can come from riverbeds or flooded forests.
- Water-reclaimed woods are typically tropical hardwood species.
- Most water-reclaimed woods come from the Americas.
- Water-reclaimed wood is a virgin product but may still be classed as reclaimed.
References
With its rich beauty, authenticity and provenance, reclaimed wood is a stunning choice for any design project.
When we also consider its positive environmental impact and the well-being it evokes in people who inhabit spaces where it is used, it is easy to see why reclaimed wood is also becoming increasingly popular.
With this increase in popularity come whispers of concern.
People wonder whether the reclaimed wood supplies are plentiful enough to meet this increased demand.
Architects and designers repost clients’ individual concerns about there being enough wood to complete their projects.
More widely, questions are asked about how long the supply of reclaimed wood will last.
Luckily, with reclaimed wood available from a variety of sources and reclamation techniques becoming more efficient, the future looks long and bright for projects whose stories are built around reclaimed wood.
Sourcing Reclaimed Wood
Most reclaimed wood in the UK comes from one of four sources.
The first and best-known source of reclaimed wood is post-consumer reclamations. Post-consumer reclaimed wood refers to wood taken from existing buildings.
The second type of reclaimed wood, post-industrial reclaimed wood, save and repurposes scrap wood from wood processing industries.
The third and fourth types are orchard reclamations and forest floor reclamations – both of these types collect wood which has been harvested and rejected.
There is a fifth reclamation method, but it is far less common in other parts of the world.
Water reclamation concerns collecting wood from reservoirs which were created by flooding the land.
These reservoirs are common in parts of the Americas and Africa, but where wood is found underwater in England, it is called waterlogged wood, and Historic England will take an interest.
The benefits of reclaiming wood
Each of these sources is an alternative to harvesting and processing new wood.
It saves on transportation, storage and potentially harmful chemical processing.
Creating beautiful architecture from unused off-cuts, unwanted wood, and wood that has already lived one life is a unique way of helping to preserve our precious resources.
We have shared before that not all old wood is reclaimed and that not all reclaimed wood is old.
We have debunked ideas around what makes a wood product ‘vintage’ and highlighted the need to move away from recycling in favour of deconstructing and reusing.
Lots of our reclaimed oak comes from old dwellings like houses and barns, but post-consumer reclamations also come from industrial buildings, schools, hotels and old railways and bridges.
Wood taken from commercial projects like these has fulfilled its purpose in these places and is often replaced while it still has decades or centuries of life left.
We think these previous lives lived with our reclaimed wood enrich it, giving it stories to hold and to build on when it is reused.
Reclaimed wood does not always come from post-consumer projects.
Many reclaimed wood is collected from demolition projects that would otherwise be burned, chipped or sent to landfills.
Recent shifts in the building industry away from demolition towards deconstruction are helping to keep precious resources out of the landfill and are preventing lots of new trees from being cut down
Locally reclaimed wood
Reclaimed wood can come from all over the world, but the environmental impact of transporting lumber from further afield can be huge.
Although transporting goods by sea creates significantly fewer CO2 emissions than transportation over land by HGV, the emissions are not negligible.
It is far better for the environment to source wood from within the United Kingdom and Europe than looking as far as the Americas.
The environmental impact can, in part, be balanced and offset by the positive Co2 of the wood itself which it continues to improve air quality when it is used inside buildings, but the provenance of locality of our wood is always a factor to be borne in mind.
Reclaimed Wood in Abundance
The long-held belief that reclaimed wood is decades or even centuries old may have been attributed to fears that reclaimed wood is a limited resource.
This belief is now slowly being debunked.
The reality is that while much-reclaimed wood is indeed old, an increasing amount of reclaimed wood is not very old, coming from sustainable wood sourcing methods.
These abundant sources of previously used mean that the process of reclaiming wood is ongoing, and supplies will be long-lasting.
Post-consumer reclaimed wood
Lots of post-consumer wood is indeed old, especially when it is taken from homes and factory buildings.
The wood taken from these kinds of buildings can be especially beautiful because of the patina worn into it over decades of life taking place around it. It is this beauty and history which makes it such a desirable material.
However, wood is reclaimed from less-known projects, such as shipping and haulage.
These industries use astronomical quantities of wood in the pallets and other restraints they use while transporting goods.
The knocks and bumps that this much newer wood suffers while in its first incarnation add to the character and patina it brings to its subsequent lives.
While it may not be as old as wood from some buildings, the journeys it has been on fill it with as many stories as the wood claimed from homes.
The wood reclaimed from these projects will be able to be used again and again – with each reuse deepening its history.
Wood will always remain one of the most popular building materials, so different ways of reclaiming wood will be constantly sought.
As transport makes our world ever easier to navigate, wood will continue to be used to transport goods between counties, countries and continents, and by saving that wood and giving it a new life, we are only increasing its longevity.
Post-industrial reclaimed wood
Similarly, the reclamation of post-industrial reclaimed wood is a growing process.
When wood products are created, offcuts are created, which, if not salvaged, will be wasted.
Reclaiming wood from scrap piles saves it from being burnt, sent to a landfill or chipped into sawdust.
One of the main benefits of this kind of reclaimed wood is its unspoiled finish.
Not having been nailed, glued or stained leaves a gorgeous virgin surface ready to be used in various projects.
Orchard reclaimed wood
Orchard salvage produces some stunning hardwood due to the ages of the trees used.
Trees planted in orchards are grown for their fruit, nuts or seeds, but they will not fruit forever.
As they approach the end of their lives and stop producing a yield, these mature trees are replaced.
Because the trees have usually lived such long and, quite literally, fruitful lives, they are solid and beautiful.
To save these trees from being wasted, they can be reclaimed and given a chance to live on in homes and design projects.
Forest floor reclaimed wood
After timber cutting is finished in large areas of woodland, forest floor salvage can save trees which have been left behind at the end of the process.
Most tree-felling companies leave behind smaller timber, but these smaller trees, trunks, and branches add to vast volumes of discarded wood.
When a lot of wood is left behind on forest floors, it can have a detrimental impact on the trees still growing by degrading water quality.
Often, this wood that has been left behind is collected and turned into mulch products or wood chips.
This seems a travesty when it is often of the same quality, just smaller than the rest of the timber.
As long as new trees are being felled, wood will be left on forest floors suitable for reclamation.
Summary
- Reclaimed wood comes from many sources, not just old buildings.
- As long as goods are being shipped from one place to another, there will be wood that can be reclaimed.
- As long as new trees are felled, there will be wood which can be reclaimed.
- Reclaimed wood is not in danger of running out.
- Using reclaimed wood helps to improve the environmental credentials of design projects.
Sources
Biophilic design is everywhere, and it’s no surprise.
As we constantly reevaluate what is important to us in our work-home balances, we strive for comfortable and adaptable places.
We talk a lot about the post-covid landscape, and that’s because it is having such a dramatic impact on the way we live both our home lives and work lives. With many people having never returned to a traditional workplace and many companies keen to get employees back on-site, it is equally essential for our workspaces at home and our traditional away-from-home workplaces to be places where we feel well.
Office spaces are becoming increasingly homely, and an astonishing number of our homes have been adapted to include workspaces.
Biophilia is priceless when it comes to creating a space that promotes wellness, happiness and productivity.
It’s a prevalent source of inspiration for many of today’s architects and designers who are tasked with creating these wellness-boosting spaces, which are also mindful of their projects’ long-term impact on our planet and its resources.
Bringing reclaimed wood into space is a wonderfully respectful way to create a biophilia-rich design.
Biophilia in workplaces
Biophilia is about the human instinct to connect to the natural world and how much happier and healthier we feel when we are in nature. We are instinctively driven to seek out these connections, but this can be difficult when such vast amounts of our time are spent indoors.
Design trends of the past 40 years have been heavily built around man-made materials – the plastics, metals and shiny surfaces of the 1980s and 1990s, though, are a far cry from what we now know is good for us.
By incorporating more nature into spaces that traditionally felt cut off from nature, satisfaction and performance will improve.
Wood and plants breathe oxygen into spaces, boosting brain power and concentration and helping us to feel better and relaxed.
By removing the toxic plastics, polyurethanes and concrete popularised by the 1990s and eradicating the minimalism of the early 2000s and 2010s and replacing them with reclaimed wood, stone and glass which look out to nature, spaces can become good for our physical and mental health.
People seek out opportunities to be in spaces which make them feel well.
When biophilic designers create built environments – shopping centres, hotels, hospitality complexes – they have nature at the forefront of the design process.
Natural materials create sensory engagement without overstimulation, essential to feeling well and productive.
The Sensory beauty of reclaimed wood
Reclaimed wood’s beauty gives it a tactile appeal unrivalled in other materials, but it has more to offer designers than just its sensory appeal.
It’s robust and versatile and helps us to feel connected with nature.
The grains, colours and patinas of reclaimed wood can be mesmerising in their complexity; the subtle warm smell wood gives off is reminiscent of walks in the woods and is warm to the touch.
These qualities add to the wellness that reclaimed wood brings into a biophysically designed space but are not its main benefits.
Health Benefits of biophilic design
Biophilic design can help boost human wellness by incorporating so many soothing patterns in nature.
These patterns, or fractals as often referred to, are shown to calm and nurture human well-being, which is no surprise.
This affection for natural fractals comes from the same place in our brains that has us absentmindedly doodling swirls and circles while on the phone or tracing patterns in wood with our fingers as we walk past a flat surface as an inherent form of self-soothing.
Studies have been carried out that show that, compared to minimalist design, people spending time in rooms rich with wood experience lower stress levels, better health and higher levels of happiness.
The biophilic design also lowers blood pressure, heart rate and stress responses. This phenomenon is explained by the naturally relaxing effect of being close to nature.
Additionally, the low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) mean that natural materials do not have the same harmful effects on our health as heavily manufactured or manmade design materials do.
Bringing a Human-Nature Bond into Built Environments
Biophilic design uses nature to create emotional connections between people and their built environment.
While wood of all kinds is more likely to provoke an emotional response than almost any other material, reclaimed wood is yet more expressive.
Reclaimed wood’s special and unique character creates a very particular connection with the humans it shares space with.
As well as incorporating reclaimed wood, biophilic design usually features natural daylight and abundant plants.
Large windows are usually a feature, too; where possible, these should offer views of nature.
When these elements are all used together, the built environment will mimic the natural environment as closely as possible, helping all its inhabitants feel calm and well.
Summary
- Biophilic design is used to increase productivity and wellness
- Biophilic design increases connection to the natural environment through the use of indirect nature – such as reclaimed wood products.
- Biophilic design benefits the physical and mental health of a space’s occupants.
Both reclaimed and new wood has their unique charms.
The detail of your project and the aesthetic you want to achieve will help to determine which is best for you.
New wood is new wood harvested directly from trees.
Reclaimed wood has been used before and is being used again.
Using reclaimed wood helps to reduce deforestation and reduce waste going to landfill.
It is usually more robust and has more character, depth and colour variation than new wood.
New wood is more readily available than reclaimed wood but should come from sustained forests.
Reclaimed wood and new wood are both beautiful in their own right. Both products are warm and can be environmentally sound options for various projects.
Is reclaimed wood better for the environment?
Reclaimed wood can be ecologically superior to new wood because it does not depend on harvesting new trees and is being reused rather than wasted.
The sustainable nature of reclaimed wood makes it the ideal choice for projects with sustainability as one of their core goals.
Responsibly resourced reclaimed wood helps curb deforestation.
When harvested responsibly, reclaimed wood is a renewable resource that reduces landfill waste as well as the use of environmentally hazardous chemicals, which are often used in the manufacture of new products.
Furthermore, many of the steps required to prepare the salvaged wood require 13 times less cumulative energy.
What about provenance?
Designers and architects do not only choose reclaimed wood because of its ecological benefits.
Old reclaimed wood is soulful and rich with provenance, stories and history.
It is a romantic idea but an important one, too, that the history of your materials brings authenticity to your project.
That element of storytelling is vital in creating a groundbreaking design.
When designers choose reclaimed wood for a project, they know it has lived before, bringing a magical feeling into a space.
Does reclaimed wood improve well-being?
Tactile materials like old wood invite us to reach out and touch them.
Their warmth, texture and smoothness add a space’s soothing sensory dimension.
The soothing feeling that wood breathes into space is more than an aesthetic.
Biophilia, the attraction we feel to nature, has a biological basis.
Feeling well when connected to nature and other life forms is human nature.
Is reclaimed wood hardwearing?
Reclaimed wood is usually stronger than new wood, making it an ideal choice for flooring.
Depending on its age, reclaimed wood can be up to 40 points harder than new wood on the Janka hardness scale.
Older wood was more often harvested from the heartwood of old-growth trees, whereas new wood often comes from first-generation forests.
Is new wood easier to source than reclaimed wood?
Sustainable maintained woodlands ensure a steady supply of raw materials to construction, design and manufacturing industries.
This means that new wood is more readily available than reclaimed wood.
Because there is more new wood available than reclaimed wood, new wood can usually be sourced more quickly, making it a predictable and reliable choice for projects with tight deadlines.
As well as being faster to source, more specific criteria can be set for new wood, with more sizing options available when the wood is harvested to order.
If you choose to use new wood for your project, you must choose a reputable supplier.
How do I know my supplier of new wood is reputable?
Many certification options are available, but here in the UK, the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) has a pioneering certification system that enables businesses and consumers to choose wood and other forest products made with materials that support responsible forestry.
PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) is a company which endorses national forest certification systems.
Their website offers a search tool which lets you check the sustainability credentials of companies manufacturing wood products.
Can new wood be made to look older?
Expert craftspeople can mechanically age new wood or chemically age new wood to help it look like it has a history in every grain.
New wood can also be effectively stained and colour treated to help it blend seamlessly into any project.
While the look and, to some extent, the texture of reclaimed or older wood can be replicated in new wood, the strength of old wood is usually far superior to that of newly harvested timber.
It is fair to mention that some unique traits of any reclaimed and antique floor won’t be able to imitate.
Summary
- Reclaimed wood is usually stronger than new wood.
- New wood is more readily available than reclaimed wood.
- Reputable suppliers are key to finding the right wood for your project.
Sources
Ilse Crawford is a human centric designer and is the founder of London Based Studioilse which she started in 2003.
Studioilse is based in Neckinger Mills Studio, a former tannery in Bermondsey, South East London.
Crawford’s work and that of her studio can be found everywhere from Soho House to Ikea.
Studioilse and Ilise Crawford herself focus on functional and characterful design.
Everything in their spaces has a purpose and their designs are focussed on meeting needs.
She never sacrifices functionality for aesthetics.
Ilse is a hugely influential designer who is interested in bridging the gap between aesthetics and real day-to -day functions of a space.
She looks closely at how each of her clients uses the space they live in and designs their projects around this.
She believes that homes need ample storage, that spare rooms are a waste of space and that everybody, no matter their background deserves the same quality of space.
Background
- Elise Crawford’s design career began when she became copy editor at The Architects’ Journal. She went on to briefly fill the role of sub-editor at The World of Interiors, before quickly being promoted to deputy editor.
- At 27, she was the founding editor of Elle Decoration which, at the time, was a free supplement with Elle Magazine.
- Elise Crawford published her first book, Sensual Home, in 1997.
- Crawford then moved to New York and took up a post as head of Donna Karan’s new home division.
- In New York, Crawford’s work caught the eye of the Design Academy Eindhoven’s chairwoman Li Edelkoort. Edelkoort invited Crawford to set up and run the design academy’s Man and Well-Being course.
- Eight years ago, with her company Studioilse, she launched a sustainable range for Ikea, including her (now world famous) birdcage-like bamboo lamp.
- In 2016, Crawford redesigned Cathay Pacific’s network of first- and business-class lounges. The airline had been keen to eliminate areas where guests would nap but Crawford’s human centric focus saw the inclusion of designated nap rooms with low lighting and partitioned daybeds.
- Recently, Netflix design documentary Abstract featured an episode following the Studioilse team setting about a redesign of the Ikea cafe, balancing beauty with functionality.
- Ilse Crawford and Studioilse continue their work on private residences and business premises as well as offering consultancy services.
StudioIlse
Established by Ilse Crawford in 2003, design studio Studioilse employs around 15 people including journalists, strategists, interior designers, architects and product designers who work together on projects all over the world.
They design furniture and take on residential commissions across Europe and even farther afield.
Humanistic Design
Ilse is a pioneer of humanistic design.
She is interested in meeting the real needs of people through her designs with need rather than appearance at the centre of all she does.
Crawford’s designs are always designed for positive mental and environmental impact by thinking about cause and effect.
She audits her clients’ use of space before even beginning to consider the finished look which makes sure the spaces are perfect for the lifestyles of those lucky enough to inhabit them.
Crawford is a champion of well made furniture which works and lasts.
In her own words, her spaces are filled with “things made from better materials that have real character.”
Philosophy
Ilse Crawford encourages us all to audit our spaces before embarking on a design project and says we should, “give most space and the most money to the things you do most.”
She goes on to add that, “if that happens to be bed, fine.”
When designing any space, Crawford is focused on the well-being of the people who will use it.
The focus of her work is to make people “feel comfortable, confident and at ease” in the spaces she designs for them.
Crawford’s obsession with well-being and wellness is evident in her choices of materials.
Her spaces use natural wood, stone and undyed linens but, perhaps more unusually, are packed with storage.
Crawford believes that at least 15% of a home should be dedicated to storage space in order for it to be functional.
This functionality is key in allowing a space to evoke wellness in its users – things need to work properly in order for people to relax into them.
Projects
Since Nick Jones, the owner of Soho House, became Ilse Crawford’s first client when he asked her to do the interiors for Babington House, in Frome, Somerset, Crawford’s reputation has soared.
Ilse has continued to work with Jones on projects such as Cecconi’s restaurant in Mayfair, the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill and Soho House New York.
More recently, Crawford’s public spaces have included the Anna Freud Centre, a child mental health organisation in London.
Studioilse set about “deinstitutionalising” the spaces in favour of fostering feelings of warmth, calm and safety which are so important to the space’s users.
This is where Crawford’s philosophy that “We’re all human, and the space that brings people together should be dignified and human,” seems so important.
This same philosophy is evident in her work at St Cuthbert’s drop-in centre in Earl’s Court, London.
Here, she created a ‘dignified dining space’ for a community kitchen that provides healthy meals for those in need again emphasising her belief that everybody deserves the same quality of space.
As for private spaces, the international homes Studioilse designs are exquisitely cosy with maximalist elements but with a notable absence of functionless objects.
Real life is on display and is centralised by their functional and characterful design, rather than being tucked away behind seamless cabinetry.
Petrified wood is essentially mineralized wood; it’s the fossilised remains of wood, sometimes found in the tree’s original shape.
Petrified wood is the remains of trees which have been fossilised over thousands of years. During this fossilisation process, the remains of the wood are replaced by minerals meaning fossilised wood is a mineral build-up which has replaced the original wood.
Very occasionally, petrified wood specimens are found that look so much like the tree they have been formed from that it is hard to tell them apart from actual wood by sight alone.
The main giveaway with these examples is the weight of the fossils, being significantly heavier than the wood they were formed from. It is unusual to find examples with this level of near-perfect preservation, but many specimens have clearly recognisable bark and woody structures.
How do you get petrified wood?
For wood to become petrified, it must be buried quickly under mud, silt or volcanic ash before any rotting can set in.
It must remain buried in this sediment for thousands of years.
The ground where the wood is buried has to be incredibly well compacted to prevent decay.
Less well-compacted wood would allow oxygen or bacteria to get to the wood, and the wood would begin to decay.
When the conditions are just right, the organic material becomes fossilised. During this mineralisation process, groundwater flows through the dead tree, and its wooden remains are replaced over time by the dissolved mineral solids in the water.
The result is a fossil of the original woody material that often exhibits preserved details of the bark and wood but is made entirely of minerals, including silica, calcite, pyrite and, occasionally, other inorganic materials, such as opal.
What is the difference between wood and petrified wood?
Wood is an incredibly versatile and beautiful material we are all used to seeing and using.
Wood is harvested from trees and used widely in all kinds of construction projects, from whittled spoons to enormous ships, buildings, and everything in between.
Although called petrified “wood”, petrified wood is not wood at all. It doesn’t share any of the qualities which make wood such a valuable mainstay of the industry.
As petrified wood is a mix of minerals which have replaced the wood that was once there, it is more closely related to stone than wood. Unlike wood, it is inflexible, difficult to work with, can shatter, and is incredibly heavy.
Despite the differences between wood and petrified wood, in some cases, petrified wood can be, visually, an almost replica of the original wood.
The original tree’s ring patterns, bark and wood grain are usually clearly visible.
Patterns are occasionally so precise the specific variety of trees can be identified from a sample of petrified wood.
Is petrified wood rare?
In many parts of the world, petrified wood is not rare.
Petrified wood is often found where volcanic activity has covered plant material with lava and ash or where a mudflow had occurred in the past.
Petrified wood is especially abundant around coal reserves, too.
Many of the world’s most famous petrified wood localities are in exposed sedimentary rocks that were once ancient floodplains or lake systems where low dissolved oxygen levels prevented decay.
While it takes between tens of thousands and millions of years for petrified wood to form in the natural world, scientists have discovered ways to replicate the necessary processes and can now artificially create petrified wood in days making it less rare now than it was previously.
Is petrified wood a rock?
Because the word petrified means ‘turned to stone’, it is sometimes believed petrified wood is the original organic matter that has turned to stone, but that’s not the case.
In petrified wood, minerals have replaced all of the original organic matter from the tree over thousands of years.
It would be more accurate to say petrified wood is a mineral compound than a rock, though it shares more qualities with rocks than wood.
What is petrified wood used for?
Petrified wood is solid and polishable to a high shine.
Because of its polishable surface and its beautiful colours and patterns, petrified wood is used as a semi-precious gemstone in jewellery.
It can also be used alongside wood as an ornamental stone in trinkets, ornaments, furniture and clocks.
Summary
- Petrified wood is formed over thousands of years when minerals from water replace wood from dead trees.
- Petrified wood is not wood, and it is not rock.
- Petrified wood can look just like wood but is made of minerals.
Sources
Otto Schulz (1882-1970) was a German-born furniture designer and interior designer in the early 20th Century.
After working for several years in design, Schulz established the renowned furniture and interior decoration firm Boet in Gothenburg, Sweden.
He owned and ran for 30 years, from the 1920s to the 1950s.
In its time, Boet was an inspiration centre as much as a store; its authority in the design world helped to secure Schulz’s reputation as one of the forefathers of modern interior design.
Alongside his Boet store, Schulz branched out into publishing, creating a design magazine of the same name.
In sharing a name and founder with one of Sweden’s most prestigious interior design names, Boet Magazine became a highly influential publication featuring reviews by high-profile designers and architects.
This design brand’s momentum was further capitalised on with the publication of Schulz’s book ‘Möbler Och Inredningar 1910-1950’ which gives a comprehensive look at Schulz and his work.
The book is about Schulz and Boet.
It illustrates the story of the design store and its owner with contemporary and historical pictures and many watercolours.
Schulz’s Aesthetic
Schulz often used unexpected combinations of materials and techniques and developed a style that was sometimes traditional, sometimes modern, inimitable, and often striking.
Famous for his deep, wrap-around easy chairs and mid-century-looking cabinets, Schulz was a designer who made essential contributions both to Swedish Grace as well as Swedish Modern styles.
Schulz’s designs are a mixture of modern and baroque styles.
His chairs are deep, with backs which curve around to envelop their users, creating snug spaces wherever they are placed.
These soft, deep chairs contrast fantastically with his sleek, slim-legged wooden cabinets.
Much of Schulz’s cabinetry worked as modular pieces which could be converted or assembled in different combinations to suit any space.
Otto Schulz Biography
Schulz attended several architectural schools in Germany, including the Technical University in Charlottenburg and the Architectural School in Berlin.
From Berlin, he relocated to Gothenburg in 1907, when he had completed his studies. In Gothenburg, Schulz found work as a draftsman at the furniture company Selander & Sons, where he worked for three years.
After leaving Selander, Schulz worked as an independent consultant on various construction and interior design projects for hotels and restaurants.
As his name became synonymous with luxurious interiors, Schulz was employed to design interiors for several notable ships in the harbour town of Gothenburg.
It was in 1917 that Schulz’s career turned the corner that would establish him as a design stalwart. After creating a gorgeous interior for the famous Bräutigams Patisserie, the head of Nordiska Kompaniet’s design offices in Stockholm, Adolf Nordic Borg, set up a meeting with Schulz.
Together they established Boet in 1920. After parting ways in 1926, Schulz set up his innovative, fully furnished showroom at Boet and his monthly magazine to show off his work and that of contemporary designers.
As well as being published in his book, many of Schulz’s inventive designs are archived at the Rhösska Museum in Gothenburg.
During his lifetime, Schulz patented some of his invented techniques to prevent imitation.
By far, the most famous of these was ‘Bopoint.’
Bopoint is the use of decorative nails as part of a design.
Sometimes Bopoint was used as edging on side tables.
Still, some of its most impressive examples are where it has been used to create elaborate and intricate illustrations and designs on leather-covered cabinets.
Otto Schulz’s pieces for contemporary homes
We would recommend seeking an Otto Schulz piece for a modern home for many reasons.
- Schulz’s unique blend of styles means his pieces will complement almost any interior design.
- Schulz pieces are vintage and are, therefore, more ecologically sound than most newly manufactured furniture.
- Buying vintage design allows you to own a piece of design history.
- Schulz pieces are ideal for the current maximalist trend, especially in a snug or home office where they can ooze understated opulence.
- Schulz’s wooden pieces are available in all shades imaginable ranging from light to deep dark tones, with everything from simple finishes to incredibly intricate designs.
If you want to bring an Otto Schulz piece into your home, look at pamano.co.uk for pieces available in the UK or 1stdibs.com for worldwide shipping.
William Hefner is a Los Angeles-based designer and architect.
Hefner’s self-named studio, Studio William Hefner, has been creating vastly proportioned homes since the late 1980s.
The typically Californian but architecturally varied properties are designed around the particular ways their owners live.
Many of Hefner’s designs are built around natural elements, making biophilic benefits the beating heart of the homes.
Studio William Hefner
Everything Hefner and his practice create is designed to fully integrate architecture, landscape, and interiors into holistic design experiences for their clients.
Their designs don’t simply bring the outside in; they are frequently built around an existing element of their surroundings.
From courtyards enclosing ancient trees to having many different garden spaces, each setting the tone for a zone of the home, landscapes are integral to the homes’ designs.
While most of Hefner’s designs are characterised by his distinctive inclusion of nature, the rest of his portfolio is architecturally and stylistically diverse.
Hefner’s projects are distinguished by regionally specific architecture; just like their residents, his SoCal homes range from impressively modern and contemporary to completely traditional.
Hefner’s philosophy is that, whatever their style, each project has a “spirit of warm livability with a luxury of details and materials.”
Design Philosophy
Studio William Hefner’s approach to design is centred entirely on its clients and how they live and use their homes.
Hefner works to create homes and spaces that embody their clients’ practical requirements and which, as they explain in their philosophy, ‘listen to their dream.
The design process at Studio William Hefner involves observing how their clients live, discussing options and testing these ideas to see how they will impact their clients’ lives.
The process is not a hurried one – time is taken to make sure every detail is exactly right.
They design spaces from the inside out, starting with how the client will use a space.
The process “builds on that vision to create environments that will enrich life in intuitive and meaningful ways.”
Not surprisingly, when we hear of homes enriching lives, kitchens, flooring and furniture are often crafted from wood.
Simple finishes and the absence of elaborate detail allow exceptional materials to speak for themselves.
Studio William Hefner’s Aesthetic
For more than 30 years, Hefner has been creating homes on vast scales which create a seamless bridge between a home’s natural landscape and its design.
With expansive spaces and unfathomably high ceilings, Hefner makes use of vast pieces of bespoke furniture.
These massive pieces could seem imposing in smaller places, but here, they magically make massive spaces feel intimate.
Textured walls, soft lighting and natural materials, including stone and wood add to the homely feel of these breathtaking spaces.
With wood floors sweeping through our homes, joining spaces, bringing warmth and breathing life into every corner, wooden staircases are now enjoying the same appreciation and desirability that wood flooring has been wanting over the past decades.
A wooden staircase can make an imposing focal point in any home.
The incredible versatility of wood means staircases can take a form as simple or intricate as the homeowner wishes, all at almost no cost to the environment.
No wonder any home’s beautiful and practical features are being celebrated the way they deserve to be.
Connecting living areas to our more private spaces in no subtle way, the sheer size of a staircase makes it a dominant presence in a home.
If something draws the eye, we should do all we can to make the object of our gaze as beautiful as possible.
Glass and metal staircases have recently enjoyed a heyday. Not only are these materials less ecologically sound than their wooden counterparts, but they are also prone to dating more quickly.
As they are less adaptable than wood, generally, the style you choose is the style you will have until the piece is replaced.
That is not to say that there is no place for more modern materials on our staircases; some of our favourite architects make stunning use of glass features in their interiors, but nothing beats the feel underfoot of warm, aged wood, bringing its history and stories into our homes.
Combining wooden staircases and glass or metal balustrades can create a stunning focal point and highlight your home’s spatial forms.
Incredibly ecological
Wood is almost endlessly reusable, but it is not just this that makes it such a climate-friendly choice.
It’s the potential to be not just carbon neutral.
Still, carbon negative, the minimal disruption of many manufacturing processes, and its longevity in situ makes it one of the most environmentally safe materials to bring into our homes.
Styles and shapes
When in expert hands, wood can be crafted into any shape and style and match any interior landscape.
Our expert craftspeople can help you materialise any design in our specialist colours and finishes.
Wood has a timeless style that adds value to your home when beautifully crafted for the space it will inhabit.
Another glorious benefit of wood floors is that many can be refinished, should you wish to change the style of your home.
Maintenance
Wood staircases, like wood floors, are wonderfully durable.
They are hard-wearing enough for the highest traffic areas of our homes.
Unlike carpet, as wood ages, it becomes even more beautiful, with patinas deepening, colours becoming richer and telling the stories of our homes and lives.
Stairs made of wood are also refreshingly easy to clean.
They can be vacuumed and washed as often as you like.
Colour matching
Close collaboration is tremendously essential in all areas of project specification and design.
For this reason, we offer the opportunity to customise stairs and other bespoke joinery to complement or match our wood flooring.
Should you want your stair treads and risers to be colour matched to our wood floors, we can provide this service for you.
Our expert craftspeople carry out colour matching and use bespoke colours and hard wax oils, which are air-dried slowly to ensure they have a perfect finish to match the floors and joinery elsewhere in your home.
Design Process
Whether straight cut or curved, all stair pieces are templated on-site before manufacturing for maximum precision.
Unlike other bespoke furniture pieces, a staircase can’t simply be moved a few inches if it isn’t quite right.
Our meticulous design process involves all of our client’s requests, ensuring the piece they receive is everything they dreamed of.
In summary:
- Wood staircases are hard-wearing, timeless and beautiful
- They can be matched to other joinery in your home
- The wood will stay looking beautiful and age along with your family.
Sources
No wonder wood floors bring warmth, luxury and well-being into our homes.
As with all design choices we make these days, we need to balance our desire for gorgeous aesthetics with the environmental impact of the resources we consider using.
Wood flooring has a shallow environmental impact.
Because of the reforestation initiatives, the benefits trees bring to the world during their lifetime, and the end product’s reusability, wood flooring can have a negative carbon footprint at its best.
This claim is supported by the Royal Danish Academy’s Center for Industrialised Architecture (CINARK), which developed the Construction Material Pyramid.
This infographic has been created to highlight the environmental impact of the most used construction materials.
It is designed to be easy to understand and, therefore, can help designers and architects communicate the environmental impact of consumers’ choices with their clients.
Clients can use this information to make informed decisions from the planning phase of their design on the environmental impact of their choices, starting with the extraction of raw materials through to the impacts of transportation and manufacturing.
The study looks at each product’s ecological and environmental credentials and measures them in several categories.
The study shows the minimal impact wood has on its environment and, in many cases, how it benefits the environment.
Global Warming Potential
The GWP is another way of referring to a product’s carbon footprint.
CINARK tell us, “When it comes to the potential to cause future harm to the health of our planet, organic materials have been shown to have negative rates, which means they absorb more greenhouse gases than they produce during their manufacturing.”
The positive impact of wood flooring doesn’t just impact the external environment – our homes are benefitted too.
Wood floors remove toxins from the air once inside our homes, meaning the protection provided by trees can continue and look after our families’ wellbeing when we bring wood floors into our homes.
Ozone depletion potential – ODP
In addition to measuring the carbon footprint of materials, CINARK’s analysis also considers the products’ potential to damage our ozone layer.
Those of a certain age will remember the banning of CFCs in the 1990s once the discovery was made about the damage they were causing.
Nowadays, products causing the most harm to our ozone layer are thermal insulators.
At the other end of the scale, materials that require low processing, such as wood, stones and copper sheets, have virtually no potential for ozone depletion.
Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential – POCP
We have often discussed the biophilic nature of using wood in our homes, and POCP can help us understand the science of biophilia.
In high concentrations, ozone can affect the health of humans and nature and may even affect breathing.
Wood has the lowest POPC level of all analysed building materials, which could help us understand why we feel so much better in homes built from materials that absorb carbon rather than produce it.
Acidification Potential – AP and Eutrophication Potential – EP
Measuring Acidification and Eutrophication helps us understand how soil nutrients are affected.
By looking at how specific materials’ production and manufacture impact ecosystems, we can make choices which safeguard their finely balanced nutrients.
Unsurprisingly, wood floor products have very low AP and EP.
These low levels help to safeguard soil health which is vital for our agricultural industries and food production.
Products, such as wood and straw, which are nestled at the pyramid’s base, ensure this bedrock remains safe.
Keeping the impact low
Unsurprisingly, oak trees, modified wood, construction timber and plywood are at the bottom of this pyramid, alongside other natural resources such as straw and manufactured products, including MDF.
This study shows how much lower wood flooring’s environmental impact is than those of concrete, lime sandstone, glass and even brick, which all appear at least two rungs higher on CINARK’s Construction Material Pyramid than wood.
Most beautiful of all, wood can have negative C02 rates from its first use, but the carbon footprint of building materials reduces even further, and the benefits increase even more with each subsequent reuse.
Long-term impact on our homes
Wooden or hardwood flooring also comes with the added advantage of improving indoor air quality by absorbing and storing carbon from the air.
Helping more than just our air quality, wood flooring’s naturally insulating properties can also help your home to consume less energy.
Since you save on energy utilisation, you directly contribute to energy conservation, which contributes towards a greener environment.
With their potential to be refinished to keep up with your evolving home design choices and personal style, wood floors can reduce waste as they are far less likely to need to be disposed of.
Even after you have exhausted the use of hardwood floors, they can still be reused time and time again.
Summary
- Wood flooring has a shallow impact on the environment
- Wood floors can be carbon-neutral or even carbon negative
- Wood flooring helps keep homes energy efficient
- Wood floors can be reused and recycled, contributing to green and circular economies.
- Wood floors are suitable for individuals and have a minimal impact on the planet.