Designing Timber issue 10 for online - Flipbook - Page 69
———— TALKING HOMEGROWN TIMBER ————
A selection of beautiful items made
by London-based furniture Jonathan
Field with wood supplied by English
Woodlands Timber.
↑ Bookmatched elm table.
← Drawer detail from kidney-shaped
↑ Inverted live edge legs from oak table.
↓ Oak chest of drawers with asymmetrical sides.
UNDERSTANDING
desk in French walnut.
timber from the UK can
reduce the carbon footprint
of a project. Fewer miles of
transport lessens emissions
and can also minimize lead
times. Furthermore, choosing
homegrown timber is helping
to sustain UK woodlands
management, and the
concomitant forestry jobs in
rural communities.
“It all starts with the trees,”
Tom says. “We have very
engaged conversations with
our customers because they
understand that, by specifying
British timber, they are helping
the management of UK woods
by providing a market for the
product that's grown in them.”
Designing with UK
timber
“When you’re designing, as
an architect, you need to
understand the
natural strengths
and limitations of
the raw material.
With the sweet
chestnut used
for the cladding
in the Old School
House project,
the particular
challenge lay in sourcing long
lengths in clean timber. If a
designer is aware of that, they
won’t draw, for example, an
elevation with a 昀椀ve-metre
solid length. It's our job as an
industry to communicate that.”
Working with the material,
Tom suggests, is key to
getting the best out of UK
timber’s variety: exploring
and embracing its variation.
He points to the characterful
interiors that UK timber
species can create. “If you
DESIGNING TIMBER
69
NOV/DEC 2025
want a bland, regular, uniform look,”
Tom says, “then English timber is
probably not for you.”
Forest management
English Woodlands Forestry is a
sister business to EWT. It manages
some 20,000 acres of woodlands
across southeast England, and helps
their owners 昀椀nd markets. Its job
is essentially to help owners bring
to fruition long-term management
plans to improve the vitality and
productiveness of their woodlands.
“The woodland composition across
