The American Harwood Export Council is distributing around 18,000 brochures to UK and Irish architects to highlight the potential of hardwoods in construction and interior design.
The 38-page Hardwoods References booklet is being distributed in Architects Journal and Irish Architect. A further 82,000 copies will go in other architecture magazines across Europe (plus this week’s TTJ).
The book, edited by industry consultant Michael Buckley, focuses on 12 flagship building projects across Europe which prominently feature hardwoods in either structural or decorative applications.
These include the EU Food and Veterinary Office near Dublin which uses American white oak, ash, black cherry, basswood and hard maple, and the Renzo Piano Rome auditorium, another black cherry showcase.
Also featured are the Salamanca Scenic Arts Centre, Haberdasher’s Hall in London and the Bundestag building in Berlin.
The booklet is heavily pictorial and details the environmental credentials of the American hardwood sector.
It includes an introduction by the former editor of World Architecture Nicola Jackson who describes timber as “the natural choice for architects”. “Timber has a humanising effect on public and work spaces, helping users of the buildings to feel more comfortable both physically and psychologically,” she writes. AHEC‘s European director David Venables described Hardwood References as “by far the most ambitious project yet” in its work to promote American hardwoods to architects and boost consumption.
