Creative collaboration

Summary
• AHEC collaborates with designers to create pieces for high-profile events.
• It also hosts seminars with wood-using architects, such as Alison Brookes.
• It worked with Osmose to treat tulipwood for exterior use.
• The latest version of AHEC’s species guide is available printed or can be downloaded from www.americanhardwood.org.

The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) has long recognised that to encourage the use of timber in general, and US hardwoods in particular, it must reach decision makers and the creative community.

“New ideas don’t come from the wood sector,” said AHEC’s European director David Venables, “they come from the creative sector that uses our products.”

This strategy of collaboration has paid off as US hardwoods have been used in some prestigious locations and high-profile occasions. The former include white oak in Portcullis House, Westminster, and red oak at Yale University, while the latter include a tulipwood backdrop by designer Clare Kiel at the 2008 Hay Festival and tulipwood seating by Philip Koomen at last year’s event.

The London Design Festival has provided another opportunity for AHEC to engage designers and architects. In 2008, David Adjaye’s “Sclera” tulipwood outdoor pavilion had a prominent site outside London’s Festival Hall, while last year Sebastian Wrong, design development director of Established & Sons, and artist Richard Woods created “Bench Press” tulipwood seating for the entrance foyer of the V&A museum. The tulipwood was recycled from some of the 30 tonnes used earlier in the year by Sebastian Wrong to create the “Walled Garden” for the Milan furniture fair Salone Internazionale del Mobile.

Seminars

AHEC has also hosted seminars with architects such as Alison Brookes, which have attracted audiences of around 400.

“Our association with well-known designers is an extraordinary chain reaction for us; it really is leaping us from one thing to the next,” said Mr Venables. “People are coming to us and they are very receptive to trying new things.”

AHEC’s latest focus is this year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile, to be held in Milan next month. The organisation has teamed up with timber-loving Italian architect Matteo Thun and fashion house Marni to create five structures in American red oak, black walnut and cherry.

“We’re working in a way and a profile that we haven’t done before,” said Mr Venables.

Matteo Thun has many timber buildings, interiors and industrial designs to his name and Mr Venables is excited about the collaboration.

“I’ve never met an architect who is quite as passionate about wood,” he said. “He knows how to make wood work in design but his passion for it is incredible. He is going out of his way to do more and more work in wood.”

During Milan’s design week the “real energy” is not so much the official fair but the “unofficial show” that goes on in other venues and open spaces around the city and it is here that AHEC will show off US hardwoods.

“The unofficial show is where the excitement is and that’s what drives people to the city,” said Mr Venables.

Sculptures

A ‘forest’ structure of black walnut will be displayed outside Marni’s shop, while a sculpture in cherry will feature in the window of Milan’s most prestigious department store, La Rinascente, situated opposite the Duomo.

However, the main installation will be at the city’s university. Here red oak will be used in a structure of three “beacons” from which will hang some of Marni’s raw materials and recycled glass. To illustrate red oak’s characteristics, the sculpture will feature both rough sawn and oiled wood.

Adding to the celebrity, the structures will be made by Maurizio Riva of furniture maker RIVA 1920, who has worked with the likes of Renzo Piano, Terry Dwan and Antonio Citterio.

Matteo Thun believes the timber industry has won the argument over wood’s sustainability credentials but, while the endorsement is music to Mr Venables’ ears, he knows that not everyone is as enlightened.

“We know how the construction industry works and the challenge we still have. I think we’ve only just started,” he said.

That said, there is growing recognition of temperate hardwoods’ sustainability and performance and Mr Venables believes that the proposed EU legislation to ensure timber traders implement ‘due diligence’ to avoid importing illegal wood will benefit US hardwoods.

Red oak and tulipwood

In recent years, from an armoury of 20-odd species, AHEC has concentrated on promoting red oak and tulipwood because they’re underused. There is clear evidence that the promotion has reaped benefits, especially for tulipwood.

“A lot more people are talking about tulipwood, and they’re using it – not necessarily for high-end structures but they’re using it differently from the norm,” said Mr Venables. “It’s not being painted as often as it used to be, and it’s being used for more than just mouldings.”

There are also signs that demand has been sustained during the recession.

“Some traders say one of the few hardwoods that’s held up is tulipwood, while a lot of others in the UK and Ireland have fallen away. They’re all aware that we’ve been raising the profile and they say there are more joiners using it and their attitude to it has changed because of the marketing we’ve done.”

Exterior applications

AHEC’s work has also demonstrated that, what was considered an interior joinery species can, with treatment, be used in exterior applications.

It was David Adjaye’s desire to use tulipwood in an outdoor pavilion that led to AHEC’s successful collaboration with Osmose and a treatment of Stabilising Oil with a biocide.

Philip Koomen’s Hay Festival bench received the same treatment and, after a year outside, it will return to this year’s festival. “There will be a story board about where it’s been,” said Mr Venables. “It hasn’t been sitting warm and cosy in a shed, it’s been out as part of an experiment. It’s grey and aging, but still performing.”

Osmose is also carrying out accelerated weathering tests in Malaysia and the goal is to achieve independent assessment.

This year AHEC will continue to promote red oak and tulipwood but there will also be a focus on cherry and maple.