Intelligence LIVING DESIGN Beverly Cramp
If a tree falls
... more often than not, it ends up as firewood, a terrible waste. Ron Cromie recycles salvaged trees to give them a second life as beautiful furniture If a tree falls in a downtown street, what happens? Usually it’s sawed into sections in-place and left for people to cart away for firewood. This is an unnecessary waste according to Ron Cromie, the visionary owner behind the hardwood furniture store Kozai, who recently discovered that the last two remaining cherry trees on his street had been chopped down, probably because they were considered unsafe. “They were at least 100 years old, having been planted around the time houses in my neighbhourhood were built,” says Cromie. “I came home one day and they were already cut down and in pieces. This wood could have been prime source material for furniture.”
$8,980,000 At 3525 Point Grey Rd., this oceanfront home offers 3,415 sq. ft. on 2.5 levels with views from all principal rooms, the roof top terrace and beachside patios. An open main floor plan features floor-to-ceiling glass doors that fold back to allow a full indoor/outdoor lifestyle. Gourmet chef’s kitchen features 12 Miele and Sub-Zero appliances adjacent to the entertainment-size living room and dining room, which in turn overlook the outdoor swimming pool. Master suite features adjacent den with seven-piece ensuite bath and large walk-in dressing room. Other features: lower-floor media room, guest bedroom and private study, cherry and walnut custom millwork, 8’6” interior doors, limestone floors, European bath fixtures, elevator, Lutron lights and auto blinds, air conditioning, integrated audio and security systems plus three-car garage. Listed by Malcolm Hasman, Angell Hasman, malcolmhasman.com Beds: 2. Baths: 2. Baths (partial): 2. Interior floor space: 3,415 sq. ft. Lot: 5,694 sq. ft.
14 myvancouvermag.ca January 2009
Cromie is inspired by the Japanese American woodworker George Nakashima (1905–1990), who was trained as an architect and later became one of the leading furniture designers of the 20th century. “He popularized free-form tables and he talked about giving trees a second life by turning them into furniture. One of his innovations was to celebrate wood for what it is, cracks, splits, knots and all.” Walking into the Kozai store (kozai is the Japanese word for hardwood) just off Granville Street, one of the most imposing sights is a row of large, richly-grained, wood slabs propped against a wall. The wood has been milled smooth and finished with a low-maintenance lacquer resin. The warm-coloured slabs – reddish brown, golden and darker hues – are from hardwoods such as Western Walnut, Red Elm, Chestnut, Maple, Butternut, Oak and even Arbutus. Add table legs or supports to one these wood slabs and you have created a one-of-akind table. Cromie sources most of his table-top slabs from Washington and Oregon, where the wood has been salvaged from city streets, backyards, parks and other public areas. These states have well-organized collection programs for gathering mature trees that have been
blown down during windstorms or have had to be cut down. It is a program that Cromie would like to see develop in Vancouver but he is under no illusion as to the difficulty of this prospect. “The production cycle from when a tree falls to the point at which it becomes a piece of furniture is long and requires a fair bit of infrastructure. The first stage is to collect the wood and mill it. Then it has to be given time to dry – and that involves being stored under the right conditions, which ideally takes a couple of years. Only after that can we determine what the wood is good for.” Although Cromie doesn’t see such a program being an immediate viability for Vancouver, he is adamant that we should start planning for it now. “There are many mature trees that are at risk of bad weather. Every time there is a big storm, the trees are falling down; not just in Vancouver but Victoria as well. Typically, these trees end up as firewood and that’s not good enough anymore.” Kozai also carries solid hardwood furniture designed and produced in Japan. “We are the only retailer dedicated to Japanese hardwood furniture,” says Cromie. “Most woodworkers hold up Japanese wood products as being the gold standard.” Cromie extends the concept by working with local woodworkers and local wood. “We are marrying exquisite Japanese wood designs with West Coast hardwood slabs.” Now if only the City of Vancouver would see the wisdom of giving fallen trees a second life beyond firewood or woodchips. mv Photography by Jason Vander Hill
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