The new V&A East Museum at East Bank in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park opened on the 18th April to critical acclaim. When visitors step inside, one of the first sights that will greet them is the striking and sinuous series of American red oak benches crafted bespoke for the space. With one installed in an alcove in the upper-ground entrance threshold, and another two framing the curved window into the museum’s Why We Make permanent galleries, the benches are constructed entirely from solid American red oak, introducing a note of rich natural materiality into the space.

Designed by Andu Masebo, with fabrication support from craft furniture makers Benchmark, and lumber donated by two AHEC members, Northland Forest Products and Rossi Lumber, the benches showcase the sustainable application of a beautiful hardwood, while offering visitors somewhere to relax and take in their surroundings. This project heralds an important change in thinking for the use of hardwood for AHEC. Why? Because Andu not only chose red oak, but also specifically requested No.1 Common grade lumber. Inspired by his use of low-grade red oak in an earlier AHEC project, he saw an opportunity to extend the critical narrative about aligning design with what the forest provides in terms of available species and lumber qualities. He was intent on once again highlighting and celebrating timber’s natural knots and colour variations, rather than cutting them all out. 

For me, Andu’s designs are the perfect demonstration of how underused wood grades like No.1 Common can – and should – become beautiful, functional furniture and be embraced more in joinery. If we are to adopt genuinely sustainable approaches to design, we need to look beyond material conventions and recognise the creative potential of overlooked hardwoods for designers and architects. This message has been central to AHEC’s work over the last decade, and it feels more relevant than ever today. As competition from non-wood materials intensifies, it is somewhat ironic that these industries often replicate the very natural characteristics of timber that wood industries themselves so frequently specify out or discard.

But what about the customer, I hear you say – surely, they don’t want unfashionable timbers such as maple, cherry or red oak, and they certainly don’t want furniture, or hardwood surfaces full of knots and wild grains and colours… or do they? Last year, AHEC tested this theory by doing some research into people’s responses to different hardwood surfaces – some clean and clear, and others full of natural character. Most respondents chose the very lively natural look as the one they preferred and would wish to live with, low grade unsorted maple proving the most popular. 

So, armed with this kind of feedback, we should be more proactive and encourage more architects and designers to follow Andu’s lead to take greater responsibility in their choice of hardwood, and work with industry to shift perceptions of what is acceptable in terms of species, colour, and natural characteristics. It could well make our products more appealing, improve yields, reduce manufacturing costs and help maintain healthy forests. Got to be worth a try, don’t you think?