Wood Species

Why Wood?

Sustainable | Rapidly Renewable | Carbon Negative

Wood by nature is a carbon sink, storing the atmosphere’s CO2 and reducing greenhouse gases. In contrast, to the environmental impact that virtually all metal production relies on fossil fuels.

As a Canadian manufacturer, we take pride in innovating with one of our country’s highly sought after natural resources. Relying on local supply-chain, contributes to our local economy and reduces our carbon footprint on transportation. Our wood is supplied and milled under 50KM from our factory.

+ Standard aaline lighting module only has 33% carbon footprint compared to an imported aluminum system.

Biophilic design focuses on using sustainable, earth-friendly materials, like our selectively harvested hardwood and 100% wool felt with zero-plastic. This creates a pure, organic feel to our surroundings and a value system of respecting nature while promoting human health through the built environment. Although today's 'natural habitat' is mainly built environments, through Biophilic Design we can satisfy our innate need to affiliate with nature.

Environmentally Conscious

About 80% of construction timber comes from softwood, however we work with only the highest quality hardwood, harvested through selection cutting or selective-harvesting.

Selection cutting, also known as selection system, is the silvicultural practice of harvesting trees in a way that moves a forest stand towards an uneven-aged or all-aged condition, or 'structure'. Using stocking models derived from the study of old growth forests, selection cutting, also known as 'selection system', or 'selection silviculture', manages the establishment, continued growth and final harvest of multiple age classes (usually three, but 5 or even 10 are possible) of trees within a stand. A closely related approach to forest management is Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF), which makes use of selection systems to achieve a permanently irregular stand structure.[1]

Simply put, selection cutting or harvesting is the process in which certain trees are selected for harvest while others are left. This is to help control erosion, to provide wildlife habitat, re-vegetation, maintain biodiversity and to protect water quality. Although softwood is cheaper and easier to work with due to it's density, our climatized hardwood means more stability, higher-quality, longer-lasting product in par with fine furniture.

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Wood Options

  • Walnut

    One of the most treasured trees in North American history, Black Walnut trees are one of the best trees to use for high quality furniture and veneer. Walnut is warm and rich in colour, a fine-grained hardwood that is dense and shock resistant. It polishes to a very smooth finish, making it ideal for carving. Black walnut is a common species in the moist bottomlands in southwestern Ontario. The range of black walnut is moving north thanks to planting efforts and forgetful squirrels.

  • White Oak

    White Oak is strong, rot-resistant, malleable, and economical. White Oak is found in Southern Ontario, an adaptable tree that will grow almost anywhere. The most common White Oak, Quercus alba, grows throughout eastern North America from Florida northward to southern Quebec. Being ring porous, it stains beautifully.

  • Cherry

    Black Cherry is part of the Rose Family and can often be seen in mixed forests, located within the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Southern Quebec, and Ontario.  Cherry birch is only known to be native to Ontario from a single site near St. Catharines. Cherry is renowned among woodworkers for its colour and aging process. Natural cherry wood starts out as a light golden/pink tone and darkens to a rich, reddish-brown colour as it is exposed to light.

  • Hard Maple

    Hard as a rock, but how sweet it is. Ten maple species are native to Canada, perhaps the best known being Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) of eastern Canada. It is most commonly found in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence and Deciduous forest regions, and is known for maple syrup. A Canadian treasure, the leaf of the Sugar Maple is found on our flag.

  • White Ash

    White ash is one of the largest of our native ash species. Ash wood is greatly valued for its strength and elasticity and is often used for hockey sticks and baseball bats. White ash is a common species in Ontario’s deciduous forests, throughout southern Ontario north to Lake Nipissing and Sault Ste. Marie. Since arriving in Ontario in 2002, the emerald ash borer has destroyed millions of ash trees. We can not bring these trees back but we can give them a new lease on life. It is important that infected wood is kept close to its original location - which is another reason we source our materials locally.

 

Where Our Wood Comes From

We think it is important to know where our wood comes from. As in accordance with the Living Building Challenge, we source our wood locally - milled within 50 miles of our studio.

Below are samples of our hardwood species for you to get to know them and where they come from.