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
As more and more people re-evaluate their impact on the planet, environmental awareness and conscious consumption have increasingly been on the rise.
The use of natural material is at the top of the agenda — with designers, professionals, and homeowners embracing “greener” lifestyles and finding brilliant ways to incorporate organic textures whilst maintaining a more current aesthetic.
Besides being good for the environment, natural materials are durable, improve the microclimate of indoor spaces, and look stylish regardless of interior design and changing styles.
For many, this means not just using sustainably sourced products, but ones that last for decades without being shipped to the landfill.
Reclaimed timber, also known as salvaged, re-worked or antique wood, is the epitome of the world of natural materials and for obvious reasons. Not only is it the most renewable and sustainable resource you could possibly choose, but it evokes a profound sense of nature, has therapeutic properties, and ages beautifully, developing a wonderful patina over time.
Reclaimed wood flooring, reclaimed wood cladding, reclaimed wood siding, reclaimed wood beams, reclaimed wood stairs, reclaimed wood furniture — it’s everywhere… and it represents impactful stories of repurposing and making use of what would have otherwise been abandoned and wasted.
What are reclaimed floorboards?
The use of reclaimed timber to finish and decorate both residential and commercial buildings isn’t a new concept, but it’s seen a surge in popularity especially with the green building and remodelling boom.
Reclaimed flooring (often oak, chestnut or pine) is simply “upcycled” wood finish with a past life used for a new purpose.
Perhaps it was a storage crate, wine barrel, retired ship or a part of a building, typically an old barn, factory, warehouse, and it is of good enough quality to be milled and fashioned into new antique floorboards.
Discovering the beauty of reclaimed floorboards
For many, the true beauty of reclaimed timber is in its rich history as well as distinctive charm, beauty and narrative. Used in and around the home, the flooring provides whispers and echoes of the past and looks beautifully aged yet timeless. It is these character qualities that make reclaimed floorboards popular throughout the UK.
The use of sophisticated, warm wood textures lends a rustic look that almost seamlessly connects your living space to the natural world. For some, it’s more than the aesthetics — it’s the conservation element that makes reclaimed wood their number one choice for their next interior project. Still others, it’s its durability and strength that captures their attention and makes reclaimed floorboards a meaningful design component.
What goes into a reclaimed wood floor?
Unlike virgin floors from freshly cut trees, milling reclaimed floorboards have far less impact on the environment.
Traditional methods involved in the creation of floorboards can be a depleting process requiring enormous amounts of energy output for harvesting and an energy-intensive milling process.
The process of designing reclaimed floorboards bypasses this environmental harm. Many of the steps required to prepare the salvaged wood to relieve pressure on our forests and uses 13 times less cumulative energy. Having already survived through decades or even centuries growing in clean, pollution-free air and soil, the wood has also matured within the projects it has graced and taken on the glow of many years of exposure to the elements too.
This makes reclaimed wood flooring even more sustainable, as no extra trees need to be felled to create a beautiful wood floor with a look and feel that cannot be duplicated. After saving the wood from the demolished site, manufacturers set about reworking the old wood planks into exceptional reclaimed flooring, removing the nails and bolts, cleaning and finishing the wood, mostly by hand, and dried in a kiln to sterilise and ensure it is dried down to the proper moisture content intended for interior application.
Here it undergoes a plethora of delicate restorative and transformative techniques to obtain a good top and a good bottom. A lot of skill and creativity gives the wood a new lease on life, making the manufactured floorboards ready for yet more decades of experience in the heart of a newly built project.
Throughout the process of extending the service life of old timber into new floorboards, the wood retains carbon, keeping potentially harmful gas locked out of the atmosphere. This alone, makes reclaimed wood sit in a very strong position of what a truly, naturally sustainable product is all about.
Being recycled between key stages of its lifecycle and lasting for generations whilst ageing gracefully within the built environment makes reclaimed floorboards instrumental to the circular economy model. These environmentally friendly credentials also mean newly reclaimed floors can last another 100 years — meaning low energy and waste manufacturing as well as an overall happier and healthier planet.
Benefits of reclaimed floorboards
The use of reclaimed timber offers a wealth of natural beauty and eco-friendly benefits. Some of the main advantages include:
Appearance
It is the timber prior history that enriches and enhances the natural beauty of reclaimed floorboards. Each plank embodies a distinctive characteristic while benefiting from the patina of old age growth. Reclaimed wood flooring creates a deeper experience and adds instant authenticity and personality wherever it is laid.
What’s more, its exceptionally tight grain, unique knots and swirls, rugged texture, organically weathered colour and patina adds a touch of “traditional allure and depth” to an interior environment, especially when paired with more modern furniture and objects.
Strong and durable
Aside from its aesthetic qualities, floorboards constructed from reclaimed timber are incredibly strong, dimensionally stable, and physically durable with better rot resistance than most newly harvested woods — being up to 40 points harder on the Janka hardness scale.
When old residences, warehouses and factories were built in and around the UK between the 18th-20th century, only the most stable and durable lumber cut from trees that grew for hundreds and even thousands of years were used so they could stand the test of time. The process of undergoing years of natural tempering and weathering means the matured wood has reached a point of being completely dried out and less prone to splitting or splintering.
Additionally, it is this great structural sturdiness that makes reclaimed floorboards a desirable option for high-traffic areas as it is able to better handle the wear and tear of everyday life while looking good for many years to come.
Environmentally friendly
As previously mentioned, reclaimed timber prevents the need for further depleting our natural forests by cutting down trees.
Knowing you’re using floorboards that would otherwise be unnecessarily burnt or enter landfills is an environmentally responsible choice that effectively contributes to the reduction of carbon footprint. Furthermore, wood that has already been harvested and treated restricts the need for refining chemicals which have a devastating impact on the environment.
Top companies that specialise in reclaimed wood in the UK
The scale of environmental degradation is disheartening, in Europe as in the rest of the world. Our planet continues to suffer a great deal from the paradigm in which goods are bought, owned and disposed of.
As consumers become acutely aware of sustainable practices and corporate responsibility, the demand for products and services with lower environmental impact has gained momentum — and, in fact, consumers often demand — companies do better. The timber flooring industry has felt pressure to adapt to new ways of thinking about sustainable manufacturing by finding that elusive balance between people, profit and the planet.
Today, a growing number of companies are seeking out innovative ways of reutilising salvaged wood as well as new ways to make operations less harmful to the environment. More importantly, businesses are placing sustainability as an essential component of their corporate social responsibility plans and business strategies.
In implementing “Cradle to Cradle” solutions to improve their carbon footprint and providing safe and sustainable flooring options for a variety of needs, there has been a significant change in relation to environmental conservation. Ahead, we take a look at some of the leading businesses specialising in reclaimed floorboards in the UK.
1. The Reclaimed Flooring Company
The Reclaimed Flooring Company is proud to be the leading provider of the finest quality custom-milled floors for residential and commercial properties across the United Kingdom. We have spearheaded the quest for timeless, character-filled old wood with lasting value and are now market leaders in this specialist industry.
Part of Reclaimed Flooring Company core values includes bringing life back to this magnificent, unique material and turning it into something truly beautiful that carries a unique legacy. In a sense, our in-house team of highly skilled craftsmen integrate specialist finishing techniques and colouring processes to accentuate the unique qualities and innate beauty of reclaimed floorboards.
Whether it is reclaiming large beams from 17th-century barns, historical monuments, colonial homes or simply reclaimed old oak wine barrels, each antique board is hand-worked by highly-skilled craftsman to create a beautiful time-worn look and feel that will illuminate and bring character to any property.
Our work demonstrates the dedication to social, economic, and environmental responsibility. We recognise that forest certification preserves our nation’s past, and furthers its present goals for sustainability. All our flooring products are in compliance with VOC test requirements and qualify for LEED points under the materials and resources category, guaranteed to last.
Email: [email protected]
2. Authentic Reclamation LTD
Bringing reclaimed building material to the whole of the South East including Surrey and South London, Authentic Reclamation has been sourcing and supplying reclaimed building materials to the building, landscaping and private sectors for more than 30 years. Based on the Kent and Sussex border, the timber company houses an extensive stock of authentic reclaimed materials to bring design dreams and visions to life.
www.authentic-reclamation.co.uk
3. London Reclaimed Flooring
Located within 15 miles from Central London just on the outskirts of North London, London Reclaimed Flooring specialises in lifting and collecting all types of salvaged timber from a wide range of period properties, as well as supplying environmentally responsible timber products ideal for creating truly one-of-a-kind interior aesthetics.
With projects ranging from small home developments and conservation to retail stores and restaurants, this leading company in the Architectural Salvage & Reclamation business believes that antique floorboards not only accentuate the look and feel of your home or architectural project but are an essential link to ecological and environmental advances.
www.londonreclaimedflooring.co.uk
4. Encore Reclamation
After years of using contacts in a demolition business to source substantive and sustainable old pine and oak flooring for friends and family, husband and wife duo setup Encore Reclamation in the hopes to serve a wider range of designers, homeowners and professional businesses across the UK.
Located in the heart of London’s East End in a former Spratts dog biscuit factory, the company makes sourcing reclaimed building materials a fast, fun and financially viable process. If you’re on the lookout for character-rich reclaimed floorboards to give even a new build old soul, Encore Reclamation takes special pride in supplying premium quality products for any interior design and architectural project.
www.encorereclamation.co.uk
5. LASSCO
Established in London’s East End, LASSCO has dealt in reclamation since 1979. Bridging the gap between the demolition trade and architectural design, the company connect customers with rescued relics that make for fascinating interiors. Since its inception in the late 1970s, the company continues to be one of the UK’s leading providers of custom reclaimed floors with a showroom and design specialists in London’s East End.
www.lassco.co.uk
6. Salvo
By choosing only the finest reclaimed antique wood, Salvo is the marketplace for architectural antiques, garden, decorative, salvage and reclaimed building materials that bring out the inherent richness of nature.
Following the principle of “Reclaim, Reuse, Repeat”, Salvo helps designers and homeowners alike create buildings that will impress and last by providing demolition alerts, a worldwide directory of salvage-related businesses, as well as online platform where they can buy from trusted Salvo Code dealers.
www.salvoweb.com/antique-reclaimed
7. English Salvage
English Salvage works passionately to bring a historic era to retail and restaurant spaces, film set constructions, and residential projects. Quality and craftsmanship come first, and every process starts with sourcing the highest-quality timber and continues with precise milling that enhances the distinctive charm of each and every board — ensuring that you receive the most beautiful outcome for your architectural project.
www.englishsalvage.co.uk
8. Lawson’s Yard
Established over 70 years ago by Thomas Lawson senior, Lawson’s Yard is passionate about re-purposing material, reusing waste and minimising resources. Combining time-honoured techniques with modern machining, the Ormskirk-based company transforms salvaged and pre-loved lumber to consistently produce the finest quality reclaimed flooring, cladding, doors and furniture — ensuring that each final product is unique to each project and in keeping with a scheme’s design, ethos and heritage.
www.lawsonsyard.co.uk
9. The Main Company
Passionate about bringing you the highest quality, The Main Company has an outstanding reputation for crafting high quality reclaimed flooring ideal for both commercial and residential spaces. Nestled in the heart of Yorkshire, the company specialises in engineering reclaimed & rustic wood flooring.
A combination of knowledge, unrivalled passion and craftsmanship ensure that they deliver floors that have a story to tell and are meticulously handcrafted and restored to bring out the stunning patinas and rustic features that suit every space.
www.maincompany.com
10. The British Wood Flooring Company
The British Wood Flooring Company is one of the UK’s largest reclamation companies with a large stock of original, authentic and bespoke salvaged, reclaimed and upcycled timber including; antique wood flooring, Parquet block, Parquet de Versailles and bespoke solid wood floors for residential properties and mixed-use commercial projects.
With knowledge and exceptional experience in installing, refurbishing and finishing wood floors, The British Wood Flooring Company works closely with clients at every stage of the design process to complement their individual needs. From London townhouses to country cottages, new-builds and period properties — each board is created with alchemy to give a stunning and unique finish to every interior design environment.
www.britishwoodflooring.co.uk
Conclusion
Procured from retired ships, old barns, homes and commercial buildings of all kinds, reclaimed lumber wins points for sustainability.
With its everyday practicality, each one of the floorboards has its own character, offering a true one-of-a-kind design finish for both old and modern settings.
Reclaimed floorboards in the UK have transformed a wide array of interior design and architectural projects — from London Victorian townhouses and period properties to modern farmhouses and new-builds — and the fact that no new trees have to be harvested to design the flooring makes them one of the most sought-after salvaged building materials.
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.
Reclaimed Wood or Lumber has a past and has been used for buildings and structures from the 18th to the early 20th century. The wood is recycled and reused to meet today’s ever-growing need for sustainable and eco-friendly homes and businesses.
Reclaimed wood shouldn´t be confused with salvaged wood, which has been cut and stored for several years but is not used for any construction.
The reclaimed wood story
Today’s century-old reclaimed wood emerges from a time when wood was in abundance, both in North America and Europe, and was used as a primary building material.
As the industrial revolution took hold, sawmills were often the core of many towns, providing employment and a plentiful wood supply.
In recent years we’ve come to learn to protect our world, and there is less wood available for construction, so we’ve looked to the ecological equivalent to newly harvested wood – reclaimed wood.
Reclaimed wood is a stylish and popular choice to decorate and enhance commercial premises and modern homes.
Wood over 100 years old is particularly suitable for high-traffic areas due to its tight grain, which makes it resistant and hard-wearing.
Which woods are reclaimed?
Any wood species can be reclaimed, but some of the most common are Douglas fir, redwood, and oak.
A rare reclaimed wood species is longleaf (heart) pine, which can take up to 500 years to mature, as opposed to the more common yellow pine, which only takes 50 years.
Longleaf pine produced enormous trees in the past, meaning long and sturdy planks, which were the mainstay of the USA’s wood industry hundreds of years ago.
However, today only 2% of its original planted area in the US is covered by this species, compared to 41% in the 1800s. This loss is immense and shows why using reclaimed wood is so important.
Oak is a popular choice for reclaimed wood and, in particular flooring due to its versatility in terms of finish and colouring. Much of our reclaimed oak flooring range comes from oak trees used for old buildings throughout Europe.
Why use reclaimed wood?
Besides the beautifully rustic character reclaimed wood lends to any building, modern or traditional, commercial or private, its ecological benefit is clear.
The environmental impact of mass forestation throughout the world has heightened our awareness of how using reclaimed wood can help protect our future.
Coupled with this social responsibility is the desire for the authenticity of reclaimed wood that tells a story and has a history. Your kitchen floor could have once been the walls of a French railway station or your office wall cladding the beams from a barn or warehouse.
Does the source and age of reclaimed wood matter?
There are various reclaimed wood grades from different periods and backgrounds. It’s essential to consider the following when choosing reclaimed wood (which is what we do on your behalf):
- Wood – infestation, chemical contamination, and durability are all factors to consider.
- Quantity – when ordering reclaimed wood, it’s essential to check the amount of timber available for the delivery date. Because the wood is reclaimed, there may not be sufficient in the batch ordered for a project. A different batch will contain other wood.
- Age – reclaimed wood can range from 1 to over 400 years old. The specification is important – where it comes from and how old it is.
What to look for before buying Reclaimed Wood?
When you buy your reclaimed wood from a specialist, you are paying not to have to worry about potential defects. These are the most common problems with reclaimed timber that specialist suppliers look out for.
- Rotted wood: They look for areas of wood rot and check how deep they go. Rotten wood is rejected in favour of more solid pieces.
- Insect damage: Many reclaimed wood dealers kiln-dry their products to kill insects. They look for evidence of insect activity as infestations can quickly spread from one piece of reclaimed wood to another.
- Nails and screws: Old pieces of wood often have nails and screws embedded in their lengths. Due to the age of much-reclaimed wood, the heads may not be visible or may have broken off, meaning it is wise to use a metal detector or magnet to find these fasteners before sawing the wood.
Using reclaimed wood
A reclaimed wooden floor or wall cladding makes a statement. As well as demonstrating excellent taste and a love for the character and finish of reclaimed wood, it shows your commitment to environmental matters.
Reclaimed wood is used for both residential and commercial projects alike. It can be used for interiors and exteriors as flooring, furniture or cladding.
Where does your Reclaimed wood come from?
I’m worried about the inherent inconsistencies with reconstructed wood; how do you solve this problem?
The strongest feature of reclaimed wood is the tonal variation. We feel this should be embraced rather than combated. Depending on what you choose to finish the floor with (hard wax oil, traditional wax, lacquer) you will be able to even out the tone of the floor but this will not be as uniform as pre-finished new wood.
If you are concerned about achieving the right colour when using reclaimed wood, you should speak to your fitter about colouring options.
Is reclaimed wood FSC certified?
Not all reclaimed wood is FSC certified; however, it’s helpful to refer to their rules around reclaimed or recycled timber. For it to qualify as FSC-certified timber of post-consumer origin, reclaimed wood must have already been used once and have reached “the end of its useful life” for its original purpose.
FSC-certified wood has met specific standards that guarantee sustainable practices were used in its creation. Using FSC-certified timbers in your building will earn you credits in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.
Does reclaimed wood flooring have to be installed a certain way? Is it different from Solid Wood?
After reclaimed wood is carefully processed into flooring, it is highly stable and can be installed like most solid and hardwood flooring.
The difference is that reclaimed wood can take two or three weeks to be ready for installation and get acclimatised to the new environment and the humidity level.
Depending on the natural surface of the wood, some boards may require some hand scraping to even out a few of the edges.
Wood acclimation and installation are the two most important things to ensure your flooring lasts a lifetime.
Glue and Nails are the standards with Reclaimed Wood, but it is always advisable to read the supplier’s installation manual.
* We do not recommend the floating methodology, as it is not a long-term solution.
Is reclaimed wood a good choice for kitchen or bathroom floors?
When selling your property, reclaimed wood floors are an excellent choice for both kitchens and bathrooms.
Older reclaimed planks have naturally closed pores, which makes antique reclaimed wood great for kitchens and bathrooms. Although sealing on-site is always advisable.
Does reclaimed wood require a lot of care and maintenance?
Like any new wood floor, reclaimed wood will perform and look its best with appropriate maintenance.
Wood finishing, indoor foot traffic, and usage level are the few things that will direct a care and maintenance program.
The proper care goes a long way and can help keep your floors great for decades.
For more information on after-care, use this link:
Is reclaimed wood different from antique wood?
Not all reclaimed wood is Antique, and very few understand the difference. Most antique wood has at least 300 years old, and just like with a centuries-old Antique cabinet, there is a limited supply of material available.
Unlike other reclaimed collections that are easier to procure, they are cut from old structural beams.
As with any skilled Antique restoration, working with antique wood requires many skills, for the thousand judgement calls one must consider when uncovering such timeless beauty piece by piece.
Is reclaimed wood safe?
Because wood is a natural organic material, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) considers solid wood an inherently non-emitting source for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
This means that it doesn’t give off any pollution; more than this, wood can absorb toxins from our environment.
These low VOCs can be affected by products added to the wood, like a finish, fire retardant, substrates or glue.
It is worth checking your supplier’s environmental credentials to ensure they are doing all they can to keep VOCs to a minimum.
Is reclaimed wood expensive?
Reclaimed wood can be expensive because of the work involved in reclaiming and refinishing it.
There are costs associated with the transportation, storage and artisanal skills involved in creating reclaimed wood products which affect the price and value of the product.
Reclaimed flooring costs between two and three times as much as conventional flooring. But this varies hugely depending on many variables.
The price of reclaimed wood products can be affected by lots of factors, including:
- the species and age of the wood,
- how much of a particular species is available (and where in the world this is located)
- how the product is being sourced.
Prices also vary between companies. Generally, you will spend a little more than you would on new wood because of the extra work and skill involved in salvaging wood, treating it and restoring its beauty.
Does reclaimed wood weather or change colours?
One of the beauties of reclaimed wood is its patterns, lines, and markings tell its unique story. This story doesn’t end when this wood is brought into a home; it just starts a new chapter.
Reclaimed wood can continue to change colour or weather, depending on the wood used, the chosen treatments, and how regularly the wood is maintained.
Is reclaimed wood LEED, WELL and LBC certified?
The LEED program is a well-recognised rating system for sustainable building. Architects and designers can increase their chances of a whole project qualifying for LEED certification by using reclaimed wood products in their projects.
The WELL Building Standard measures and certifies features of the built environment that impact human health and well-being. It is well-documented that bringing wood into our homes and office spaces suits our physical and mental well-being.
Living Building Challenge (LBC) is a comprehensive sustainable building standard designed to encourage building practices that enhance community life and benefit the planet.
LEED, WELL and LBC were all created to work harmoniously with each other, and reclaimed wood products show how well they do this.
With LEED rewarding the sustainability of reusing precious materials, WELL recognising the well-being-boosting properties of wood and LBD rewarding the community and planetary impact, they help to illustrate how valuable a reclaimed wood product is.
As both WELL Building Standard and Living Building Challenge (LBC) have biophilic design focuses, the certification helps illustrate how reclaimed wood is an impactful and logical solution for bringing nature into a space.
Is reclaimed wood good for my health?
It has now been proven that it also can enhance our wellness. Maybe this is why it’s so tempting to stroke a smooth wooden bannister or to feel the finish on a bespoke piece of joinery.
With the growth of biophilic design, architects and designers are increasingly taking wellness into consideration.
Low VOC materials are being chosen over their more highly manufactured and polluting counterparts, and elements which enhance the impact of daylight and allow for proper ventilation are considered essential, especially in our post-pandemic world.
Biophilia explains our connection to nature and opposes the industrial minimalism which had become the norm in our built environments over the preceding decades. As the hard lines and artificial lighting that minimalism promoted are not found in nature, we now understand why they adversely affect everything from communication to mental health to productivity.
The studies carried out in Japan revealed that wood serves as a de-stressor and has been shown to lower blood pressure while Canadian studies yielded similar results: wood contributed to lower heart rates and stress responses than environments with no wood.
While these results focus on wood in general, we have seen anecdotally that Reclaimed wood can deliver emotional connection and therefore a more significant biophilic effect. Because Reclaimed wood has a history and a story, the wood’s history enhances the occupant’s experience in the space in an authentic and meaningful manner making them not just feel better, but actually be better.
Is Reclaimed Wood B-Certified?
With just over 2200 Certified B Corporations globally, B-certified products are still hard to come by.
While reclaimed wood’s eco credentials make it an ideal candidate for B corp certification, there aren’t currently any Reclaimed wood suppliers listed among the 2200 B Corp-certified companies.
This could be because B corp certification measures far more than just the regenerative nature of a business. It also weighs up a company’s inclusivity and equitability to measure its entire social and environmental impact.
There are, however, several architecture, design and building companies recognised with B Corp certification, including:
- Chandos Construction – A construction company that covers all aspects of the design and build process. Aware of the environmental impact of construction, they divert their waste wood to other projects.
- Building Green Inc – A consultancy which champions the changemakers in sustainable design and building.
- Forward Thinking design – An interior design company whose vision is ‘Impact driven, human centred strategy and design.’
- Draw Architecture – A London and Edinburgh-based architecture firm that ‘believe every project should contribute socially, environmentally, technologically and contextually.’
- HCMA Architecture + Design – Canadian architectural firm applying curiosity to everything they do.
- Verdecon – A proudly carbon neutral Australia based building company
Seeing so many companies associated with the traditionally damaging construction industry being recognised with this certification is a sure sign that the industry is moving in the right direction.
The Soul of the tree
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.
Sources:
With a strong focus on sustainability, the circular economy is involved in creating new or improving existing offices and workspaces.
Circular design companies build the concepts of reducing waste, repurposing existing products and reducing carbon emissions in every aspect of the process, from planning to production.
The circular design focuses on its responsibility to reduce waste and improve well-being with every step.
The circular economy is concerned with using and repurposing existing waste and designing out waste from the very beginning and at every stage of the interior design process.
When designing our workspaces, we should all be considering how circular economy and circular design can boost not only environmental health but also our health.
Circular Economy: Why now?
Over the past few years, we have all been forced to rethink how we work, and as we are now getting comfortable with being back in our workplaces, we have new opportunities to find better ways of using these spaces.
The importance of maximising our own well-being and the well-being of our environment has never been more evident.
We have become acutely aware of how our workspaces can influence this.
Many of us will well remember having to suddenly repurpose our existing home offices to work harder than they ever had done before during the challenging times presented to us in early 2020.
We now have the luxury of time. We can take time to design more slowly and in a more considered way than ever before.
We also see the benefits of sustainably designed and expertly crafted spaces on our well-being and productivity.
Certifying circular economic principles
The industry has been catching up with our consciousness about circular design.
While, as individuals, small companies and cottage industries, we have looked at repurposing, reclaiming and upcycling materials for centuries, C2C certification has been available to designs which consider the ‘cradle to cradle’ approach since the early 2000s.
The C2C certification is a globally recognized measure for safe, circular and responsibly made products.
For example, where wood products are used, C2C certification is reserved for companies whose new wood comes from controlled and reforested woodlands.
Good for our businesses
Being able to spend precious time using the circular economy principle of waste to resource gives us new ways to approach traditional design principles.
Specialist design companies will consider the lighting, acoustics and flow of our workspaces, allowing us to create spaces that minimise our environmental impact while maximising the space’s impact on those working within it.
Circular Economy’s respect for resources affords us increased opportunities to incorporate biophilic design, which we know improves our quality of life incredibly.
When we feel well, we can work better.
Good for our planet
The lifespan, reusability and potential for reuse of every product are carefully considered.
Mindfully, expertly produced and repurposed materials are used in careful and considered ways, knowing that their lifespan won’t end with this project.
Materials are respectfully used, preserving their characteristics so they can be used again.
However, finishing materials and fittings are most frequently replaced and discarded, and, disappointingly, waste reduction here is less incentivised than in the construction industry.
This is why we must each consider the waste consumption and carbon emissions of our new office design projects.
In that case, a growing number of circular design companies are taking on increasing numbers of clients as our collective consciousness around preservation, sustainability and respect for our world’s finite resources increases.
Circular Economy Designers we love
Kard Architects
This Greece-based architectural firm takes sustainability seriously. Circular economic principles are the beating heart of their designs, using reclaimed materials to create stunningly modern buildings and interiors.
TP Bennett
Award-winning London-based architects, TP Bennett, use Passivhaus concepts to reduce energy consumption when creating beautiful designs. Their spaces feature neutral tones and lots of glass of pale wood to bring a natural feeling to contemporary design.
House of Grey
London-based House of Grey is a Pioneering Circular Salutogenic design studio. They provide clean, sophisticated, private interiors, hospitality venues and bespoke pieces, and selling products directly to the public. They are rightly proud of their symbiotic approach to human and ecological health in interior design.
Find out more:
For our interiors to be as sustainable as possible, we must consider and build sustainability from the very start.
Far from being an add-on or an afterthought, sustainable payid deposit casino australia design processes are more widely available now than ever before.
We can do many things to ensure that our interiors don’t negatively impact the environment but actively contribute to environmental wellness.
Sustainability is more than just the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle mantra that we have become familiar with over the last decade.
It is a social project aiming to improve human quality of life through the preservation of materials and conscious thought about our choices’ impact.
Truly sustainable spaces with biophilic characteristics boost the wellness of their inhabitants by bringing them closer to nature.
Materials and products
As far as possible, our interiors should use natural materials such as wood, marble, ceramic, linen and wool.
The fewer industrial-scale finishes applied to these products, the more sustainable they are.
This keeps more chemicals out of our environmental systems and preserves the reusability of the products we choose.
When choosing products, it is also essential to consider the impact of transporting them to our site.
Using less material produces less waste, lowering transportation’s impact.
This can be harnessed by choosing one supplier for more than one design element in our design, as more suppliers will bring a higher environmental impact.
Environmentally responsible suppliers
One of the key tools in ensuring our interiors’ sustainability is verifying our suppliers’ environmental credentials.
Many organisations offer certification for those businesses that have proved the sustainability of their materials and procedures.
The following three are internationally recognised certifications worth looking out for.
BREEAM
BREEAM is the world’s leading science-based suite of validation and certification systems for a sustainable built environment.
Planet Mark
Planet Mark is a sustainability certification which recognises continuous improvement, encourages action and builds an empowered community of individuals who make a world of difference in the field of sustainability.
C2C
Cradle to Cradle Certified assesses the safety, circularity and responsibility of materials and products across five categories of sustainability performance.
It looks not only at the sourcing of products but also at the impact of sourcing and reusability of materials.
Designing for waste reduction
One of the newest approaches to sustainable new projects has been to flip the entire design process on its head.
We can build out waste by asking which materials are already available and using those materials as a starting point.
This novel way of considering the impact of our interior projects from the beginning of the design process not only vastly reduces waste produced by the project but also takes existing waste out of the industry.
Reuse is far less harmful than recycling.
By seeking reclaimed products and ways to incorporate existing structures and materials, our projects will be as unique as they are sustainable.
Second-hand furniture
The simplest way to minimise the environmental impact of our new project is to bring in second-hand furniture.
Stunning pieces can be found to work as statement objects or to blend seamlessly into our existing designs.
A creative interior designer can help you source the perfect focal points for your room or design around an existing piece you already own.
Design for longevity
Projects with aesthetically timeless and highly durable pieces that will retain their value over time are increasingly popular.
Choosing products that will last longer, do not need to be replaced as frequently and can be repaired or upgraded will ensure our new projects are sustainable as they are not sending any waste back into the environment.