Established and Sons Exhibition, April 2009

 
The progression of the American hardwood species tulipwood from a functional role in furniture-making to the timber of choice for some high profile design projects took another step forward at the unveiling of the Established & Sons' (E&S) new collection in Milan.  Top UK design company E&S chose tulipwood for their ambitious installation to house their latest collection on show at the Milan International furniture fair. The installation, a 1,340 square metre ‘walled settlement’, was constructed from 30 tonnes of untreated No 1 common grade tulipwood panels, which were deliberately left unfinished to show off the grain, colour and natural characteristics.  The boards were arranged randomly on free standing tulipwood frames to create a series of corridors and 13 separate zones for the new design collection.  The walls ranged from 2 to 4 metres.  Working in collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council, Established & Sons created this unique environment for its collection, with low lighting enhancing the variable tones and straight grain of the timber.    

The exhibition was housed in a converted sports hall in the fashion district of Milan and attracted thousands of visitors and huge interest from the international design media. In fact, at the press preview around 300 journalists attended and AHEC’s European Director gave a number of interviews.

Potentially the most exciting part of this project is still to come. The tulipwood boards will be saved and recycled into a series of high end furniture collections over the coming 18 months.

One of the most prolific of the American hardwoods, tulipwood grows widely throughout the Eastern USA.  It has strong sustainability credentials, coming from well-managed and legal sources.  And the Established & Sons collaboration has been developed very much around resource efficiency, with plans for the wood used for the installation to be re-used for further projects in 2009 around the theme of sustainability, to be announced soon.  

In a world where sustainability is the watchword, American tulipwood continues to attract the interest of architects and designers around the world, with research and development projects fast tracking its increased and more visible presence in design and building.

Established and Sons Press Release 21st April 2009

Tulipwood information