Innovative Design Meets Sustainability.
A furniture art piece co-designed by the Oval Partnership and HK Timberbank has recently been recognised for its innovative approach to sustainability and design, earning a spot on the FRAME Awards 2024 shortlist for “Furniture of the Year”.
Titled “The Scents and the Soil”, the sculptural concierge counter features salvaged wood from a 400-year-old camphor tree found in a local village in Tai Po, Hong Kong. Felled after being evaluated as a tipping hazard and then reclaimed by eco-startup HK Timberbank, the tree trunk was upcycled via eco-friendly processing and crafted into a functional and sculptural art piece in the form of a concierge counter. This furniture piece exudes a natural calming fragrance and serves as a captivating storyteller.
The artwork portrays a single tree trunk sculpted into a graceful form, showcasing the tree’s annual rings while emitting a serene scent. Inspired by the Chinese saying “Distant fragrance announces the arrival of the noble”, it evokes the elegance of a young woman in ancient times, descending from the staircase to welcome the guests of her wedding .
The sculptural form of this work was achieved by reverse engineering the rhythmic shapes of original tree trunks through 3D scanning and assembling them in Rhino. The six individual trunk pieces were hand-milled to precise specifications, yet sculpted asymmetrically to highlight the intricate patterns of the heartwood rings, resulting in a rhythmic flow reminiscent of a lady's dancing hemline.
By combining sustainability, adaptive reuse and storytelling, HK Timberbank and the Oval Partnership have demonstrated the potential of sustainable design ,and giving fallen trees a second life.
About HK Timberbank
HK Timberbank is an eco-social enterprise based in Hong Kong that is in pursuit of sustainable and circular bioeconomy through upcycling locally felled trees due to typhoon, ageing, or urban development. Supported by a team that truly believes in the transformative power of nature and the importance of waste reduction and carbon avoidance, HK Timberbank handles the whole timber upcycling pipeline: from collecting, storing, drying, and processing raw timber, then designing and producing sustainable and traceable timber products, all the while preserving the trees’ natural beauty.
Through their philosophy of “ReCYCLE, ReDESIGN, and ReLINK”, HK Timberbank connects and gives back to the community via social collaborations, events, and volunteer programmes. By underscoring the trees’ remarkable ability to inspire our built environment, such as creating furniture and art installations, HK Timberbank encourages everyone to cherish and celebrate the unique gifts that nature has bestowed upon us.