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Lessons in Timber

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Lessons in Timber

An informal study of the subtleties of timber species, stains and sustainability

A deep understanding of timber is at the root of our business; from long standing relationships with suppliers to an intricate knowledge of different species, their strengths and their qualities.

In our latest Take a Seat series we chat with Morgan Design Director Erin Johnson and Sales Manager Rosalind Grinstead to share tips on the intricacies of timber and polish choices and how decisions can positively impact sustainability, aesthetics and budgets.

 


 

Layers 

The choice of timber on a contract interior project is a layered decision, with clients often juggling a multitude of considerations – from functional to financial, aesthetical to sustainable.

Understanding the qualities of different species can help the decision making process feel more informed. As Rosalind explains “It’s an education. For us it’s important to be able to work with clients to ensure that they know what they’re getting and feel confident in their decision.”

Being schooled in species is a trait that the Morgan team feel very passionate about, keen to impart knowledge and support clients in understanding the richness and diversity of the four core timbers they work with – Beech, Ash, Oak and Walnut.

For many clients, Walnut is the high-end timber of choice. “When it comes to choosing pieces, our clients often have a specific look in mind and it’s usually Walnut – it’s rich, it’s warm and it’s luxurious. It’s the timber clients select for a showstopper piece they might want to put in a reception to elevate the space.”

But while Walnut offers clients a more opulent finish, it might not always work with every budget. In contrast Ash, a beautiful and highly sustainable timber, can be used with stains to offer clients the flexibility of a variety of finishes.

Rosalind explains, “Ash is an incredibly popular option. It’s British grown, which makes it a very sustainable option, and it can be combined with a Walnut stain to give our clients a beautiful, deep tonal finish that showcases the details of the grain.”

The choice of timber can also be dependent on the furniture collection or piece clients are working with. The amount of visible wood can help define which finishes work best:

“If you’re working with chairs where you see a lot of timber, from collections such as Kaya or Barricane, Walnut is worth the investment. Whereas if you’ve chosen a sofa, where the only exposed wooden parts are the legs, then you could choose Ash but use polish to achieve the same tone.”


An education in Sustainability 

As Design Director Erin explains, Ash has a great sustainability profile “It’s a species that grows really quickly and abundantly in the UK, so product mileage is low, versus timber that is grown in Europe.”

With increasingly more clients having sustainability requirements, from FSC to higher certifications, a collaboration with Morgan allows clients to understand what timber suits their briefs more holistically, as opposed to just aesthetically.

“Recently one of our clients came to us asking for Walnut, but their project also specified very high sustainability credentials. We steered them in the direction of Ash because it was the right timber for the brief. We are always committed to doing right by the client and their project.”

Nurturing this kind of close relationship with clients is important, it fosters trust and transparency. It also encourages clients to understand how deeply sustainability shapes our working standards.  “We always encourage factory visits. What makes us unique is our manufacturing, we start with trees and we want clients to see that we don’t just put something in a box and send it – we select the timber, we care about traceability, we make every piece to order, as instructed by our clients for individual projects, rather than a cookie cutter approach to production.”

“We are always committed to doing right by the client and their project. ”

But striving for sustainability in projects can feel complex. Sometimes something as simple as understanding how timber ranks environmentally can help, as Erin clarifies

“The way we rank species in terms of sustainability is by looking at two factors -growth speed and re-plantation rate.

Ash is our most sustainable timber, it grows locally and easily. Growth is quick and prolific because it’s the kind of timber that’s happy in any soil and in most weather conditions. It has more fiber elasticity and is easy to machine in the factory, which leads to very low waste.

Beech follows. Despite its low abundance in the UK nowadays, it still grows relatively quickly. Our Beech is PEFC certified and sourced in Europe.

Oak is third. UK-grown, Oak is a premium product and not used for mass furniture due to its cost. Instead we carefully source European White Oak, which is a blonder wood, from FSC certified European suppliers. However it is the slowest growing of all of our timbers.

And finally Walnut, particularly the black American species, which is sourced from the US. It’s a high end timber, but scores lower on sustainability, due to sourcing distance and how slow regrowth is.”


Responsible supply chains

“We’ve had the same suppliers from the beginning, we have very close relationships, they often come for factory visits to make sure we’re happy with the quality of the timber and moisture levels. If we’re not satisfied, the timber is returned and replaced.”

Strong connections with suppliers enable us to have access to high quality timber – the best boards for our furniture, free of waste such as sap, which affects the structural integrity of wood “We are really lucky in that we get to work with our timber supplier to select top quality boards, the highest grade of timber. Our furniture is designed to be used continuously so we have to make sure we only use the best quality source materials.”

A close relationship between supply and production also ensures that we design our pieces with minimal waste. Design Director Erin clarifies “When designing a new collection, we work with Production to ensure our design will work across all timber types. Oak and Walnut boards can often have limitations in width, so we need to be confident that all our pieces can be produced in all species without compromise.”

Design integrity becomes a byproduct of healthy chains with both exterior suppliers and internal teams.


The beauty of natural materials 

While all our furniture is designed with neutrality, to allow our clients to put their mark on our product, we design with timber and species in mind. Part of the education process lies in understanding how this translates to furniture, being able to see the richness of the raw materials with its changes in grain and tonality.

Sales Manager Rosalind discusses the importance of working closely with clients  “We like to show clients that every piece they get is made from solid wood, not a veneer. Solid wood has variation in tone. Different parts of a chair, for example, will look slightly different because they’ve come from a different section of the tree. We help clients understand that that is the beauty of using a natural material.”

Some species such as Oak and Walnut are seen as more beautiful and aspirational, but both Rosalind and Erin believe in the importance of clients being educated in their choices

“If a client’s scheme is dark, we can suggest the use of a more environmentally-conscious species with a dark stain. We show them samples, explain how you can achieve the same tonal finish while seeing the grain. If they’re not using a clear finish, it’s about making them aware of options so they can make an informed decision.”

Tonal uniformity also plays an important role. Some pieces have more exposed wood, which when used without a stain, can reveal a difference in shade. “You get to really see the beauty in the movement and variation of the grain” Rosalind explains “But some clients might not want that colour variation, they might want a more uniform look, which is where a stain can be useful. Part of our role is to help them understand that every tree is unique, with rich, tonal differences.”

 


The potential of polishes

Timber staining opens up possibilities – creative freedom, sustainability compliance and even financial flexibility. Understanding the potential of staining is an important part of the learning process. They enable timber colour transformation where needed and enhance tonal consistency throughout an entire project.

“Most timbers are a blank canvas, they’re light and easier to work with. Walnut however, is darker and is mostly kept natural, whereas a timber such as Oak works better with lighter stains such as grey or limed finish.”

With 12 standard colours to choose from, part of the selection process involves visibility on tonal variation “We usually like to show a client 3 or 4 samples of the finish before they make a decision so they understand the variance in tonal range” explains Rosalind  “If they want a particular colour, we have a Polish to Pattern process, which allows us to create a bespoke stain for their order in a very specific shade and match finishes elsewhere in the scheme.”

 

Stains are absorbed by timber, rather than sitting on the surface, before being finished with either a low VOC lacquer or a hard wax oil. We also offer a Hygienilac Antibacterial lacquer for Healthcare environments and a water based lacquer option. Our standard staining and lacquering process allows any damage to furniture to be easily re-finished ensuring durability and longevity, which are highly important factors to Morgan and their clients.

 


Inspiration

Education encourages confidence and curiosity. The more we help our clients understand the potential of different species, the more exciting decisions can be.

To finish we share our top 3 timber choices, selected by our experts. Rosalind’s selection showcases a diversity of timbers and the flexibility that finishes can lend to a piece.

  • New Rakino in Oak Species with hard wax oil
  • Barricane in Beech with P80 Warm Black
  • Kaya high back in Walnut Species with cane

Erin’s choices highlight Ash’s aesthetic potential and the beauty in simplicity of Walnut.

  • Barricane in Walnut Species with Hard Wax Oil.
  • Rakino 891A in Ash Species with P56 Limed Oak.
  • Kaya 780C in Ash Species with P80 Warm Black

Our commitment to thoughtful material selection ensures that every piece we create is both beautiful and responsible. If you’d like to explore our timber options further or discuss your project, get in touch with our team: info@morganfurniture.co.uk.

Related
Beyond Design. The Beauty of Sustainability.
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