The One Tree project, conceived by British furniture manufacturer SCP, is bringing a group of designers together to create one-off objects of beauty from the wood of a felled tree.
The idea for the project came about when SCP founder Sheridan Coakley discovered that one of the beautiful ash trees in his garden was suffering from ash dieback and would have to be felled. Rather than chop the tree down and use the offcuts for firewood, he called on a group of likeminded designers, artists, and craftspeople to create one-off objects out of the natural material.
Currently underway, the project will conclude with a debut exhibition during the London Design Festival in September 2022. Each of the bespoke-designed objects by the diverse and previously unconnected group of creatives will be showcased for visitors to admire.
Proceedings first began in April 2022 when the tree was felled and each of the participants visited the site to help cut, select, and remove the chopped wood. One of the designers, furniture maker and craftsman Sebastian Cox, used his mobile sawmill to plank branches and stems with his colleague Moe Reddish. After this, everyone was given the choice of either taking a whole section of the tree, or they could select and cut boards for use.
The anticipated result of the project will be series of beautifully crafted objects, highlighting how timber that would have been considered undesirable and “imperfect” by a commercial sawmill, is actually perfectly usable and shouldn’t be put to waste.
“Wood has always been used to make furniture; it’s the ideal material, both to work with and in terms of sustainability because it locks carbon into the final piece forever,” said SCP founder Sheridan Coakley.
“It’s a material that is currently in short supply, because the felling and processing of timber was significantly curtailed during the global pandemic and it’s also now more of a challenge to get hold of European oak. The only logical way to mitigate these problems, and to help with the problem of climate change more generally, is to plant more trees and better manage the forests we have. This needs to be done on a huge scale, both nationally and internationally,” he concluded.
Take a look at the full collection of modern furniture and design products by SCP.
We will keep you posted on the outcome of this project, but in the meantime you can read more of the latest sustainability news on enki.
