African Ironwood, salvage from the South St., Seaport restoration, is among the hardest woods on earth. It’s more common in European Maritime Applications, but it’s also found in the depths of the Paris metro. It’s cellular structure makes it notoriously on stable at narrow thicknesses. here, it’s a striking detail and environmental statement at the threshold of a Brooklyn Brownstone.
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Brooklyn City Point
If there was a reclaimed wood as emblematic of both the new and old Brooklyn, as the rusted steel that wraps the Barclays Center, it may be the salvaged brownboard that zig zags in a herringbone form through the corridor of the new nearby City Point development. Made from a range of different antique softwoods, reclaimed primarily in the NYC area – from a Western Beef in the Bronx to a Kosher dairy facility in Bushwick – it unfolds along the five hundred foot space in broad planks – 5/8” thick x 7” wide and 8’ long. Vaulted over thirty feet in the air, the woods express some of the same rustic elegance as a brownstone facade. Though unlike a tree lined row house block, the installation is in tension with the florescent lit space of commercial tiles and engineered panels.
An equal allure of reclaimed wood that defines the space uses a mix of salvaged and remanufactured woods from Sawkill Lumber for paneling – a patterned variation of widths and lengths made from potato farm grey board, cypress vinegar tank stock and the tropical hardwood of city boardwalks. The wash finish helps to further unify the woods as they parade across long wall stretches. Conceived by Gensler Architects, the new CityPoint is home to large and small retailers that include an Alamo theatre and Katz’s Deli.
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Barn in the gallery
This Lower East Side gallery installed an original surface reclaimed barn wood floor in the office space, keeping it natural- unfinished and without removing open knots or color variations. Designed by Labo architects. Installation by Bernard Gallagher.
Passive House Conference 2016 NYC
Sawkill Lumber joined with Menck Windows at the North American Passive House Conference 2016. The intersection of reclaimed woods – a certifiable ‘passive’ forest product – and energy efficient windows, was a triple-pane window made with reclaimed Redwood (salvaged from dismantled vinegar tanks), supplied by Sawkill Lumber and manufactured at the Menck Windows facility in the U.S.; just three hrs north of NYC in Chicopee, MA. Thanks to Menck for their leap into the process and putting the salvaged wood through their state-of-the-art milling equipment. Their acceptance of what’s otherwise a clear ‘defect’ in the wood was certainly stretched on this one. A remarkably technical, beautiful and uber-sustainable window emerged. The first one was installed at a Brooklyn passive house on the opening day of the conference.
New Signage by Brooklyn Woods
Some beautiful new CNC signage work by Brooklyn Woods – over reclaimed wood flooring from submerged and recovered Pine logs.
Shades of Reclaimed Brown
Reclaimed wood ages brown – at least when it’s not daily exposed to light. Outside of time, other factors result in a wide range of brown – wood species, age of boards, original saw blade orientation, use and it’s exposure to a mix of man made influences – from tobacco smoke, pickle juice and other food grade fluids. All of the browns in their ‘found’ condition evoke a warm natural quality, but with individual personality. The woods below are a collection of antique grade Spruce/Fir, Hemlock, White Pine and potentially other species – sourced from barns, residential buildings, mushroom drying boards and Worcestershire Sauce tanks. The design possibilities within the family of natural browns are limitless.
