The American Hardwood Export Council’s (AHEC) impressive stand was designed by Clare Keil, stage designer for last year’s Guardian Hay Festival, and made great use of AHEC’s current focus, tulipwood.
“We wanted to get away from the standard computer-designed stand and have something much more bespoke and design-oriented – more suitable for the architects and specifiers this show attracts,” said AHEC’s European director David Venables.
“The stand also showcases David Adjaye’s ‘Sclera’ pavilion, which saw treated tulipwood used for a major exterior project for the first time,” he added. “It was this that began the process of promoting the use of tulipwood in outdoor applications.”
Thanks to research in partnership with treatments specialist Osmose, and Timbmet, AHEC is able to promote a new performance angle, said Mr Venables, and the stand included samples of tulipwood that had been treated with Osmose Stabilising Oil at various strengths and exposed to weathering to assess its exterior performance potential.
“Ecobuild provides a wonderful opportunity to get expert feedback from architects and designers which can inform our ongoing research. Our message to architects is ‘look at it and see if you could make this timber work’.”
