Throughout my working life I have been on a personal mission to change the image of tulipwood, one of North America’s most interesting and intriguing timbers. 

Our promotion hasn’t just been about its technical performance for structural purposes, or machinability for a wide range of joinery products, or the fact that it can be treated with preservatives and can be thermally modified successfully; it has also been about the look. 

Far from being a problem, there is increasing evidence that tulipwood’s exciting grain patterns and variable colour, can actually be an advantage. In the past year alone we have seen many more examples of it being used decoratively with natural finishes, no paints or stains. They include; the Phoenix Brewery in London, Hardenberg Town Hall and Nieuwegein Arts Centre in the Netherlands and of course our own Endless Stair built for last year’s London Design Festival.

My ambition is not just to have the natural look of tulipwood accepted, but for it to become fashionable.  So, when we were approached a few weeks ago by the exciting clothing brand 1205, the brainchild of Paula Gerbase, we jumped at the chance to help out with their show for London Fashion Week. 

By adapting partitions from a previous project with Wallpaper* Magazine and architect Adam Khan, we provided a striking backdrop in natural tulipwood for 1205’s new collection. Paula was particularly inspired by the rawness of the material which went hand in hand with her collection. Seeing the latest fashions from this leading brand working together with our trendy tulipwood was very rewarding. Check it out for yourself here