AHEC

Used properly, wood is both beautiful and sustainable. We’re helping the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) promote American hardwoods for building and furniture.

American tulipwood is generally regarded as a low grade species and it is not as well used as it could be among designers and architects.

We made contact with the London Design Festival and, as a result, AHEC was invited to work with leading architect David Adjaye on the ‘Size & Matter’ project for the 2008 event. It was a great opportunity to showcase the beauty and versatility of tulipwood to a specialist audience.

David created the stunning ‘Sclera’ (wooden eye) pavilion, installed in front of the Royal Festival Hall for the duration of the Festival in September & October 2008.

We needed to use this opportunity to promote American tulipwood and AHEC’s role as an advocate of sustainable timber.

So we used it to provide stories for design and architecture media across the world. We put together a press launch and reception with UK and European media, a technical briefing and a wide distribution of messages and beautiful photography, via AHEC’s global PR network. UK coverage included the Guardian Architecture pages, leading architecture and building titles (including a front cover), BBC London News and major design titles. Coverage also appeared in European, US and Australian media.

We also produced a film of the installation, which included time-delay footage of Sclera’s construction, vox pops and comments from David Adjaye. This was placed on social networks and AHEC’s websites.

What’s good about it?

‘Sclera’ was the talking point of the Festival. The coverage we gained raised awareness of – and demand for – American tulipwood. More use of sustainable wood means less concrete, plastic and tropical hardwoods, which we’re all in favour of.

The project also opened the door to future collaborations with leading designers and architects. This in turn means we’ll have more opportunities to show off the beauty and versatility of this highly sustainable and versatile material.