There is evidently a considerable amount of timber wasted in cutting out a triangular section, although it is not immediately possible to compare it to the losses associated with using sawn hardwood. And the offcuts would rot on the forest floor eventually, providing food for the next generation of trees.

Of more concern perhaps is durability. This unseasoned timber will dry and crack quite dramatically but Alvarez is happy to accept the cracks as part of the ‘natural’ aesthetic.  And of course, at the end of its life, the bench, like the offcuts, will decay on the ground and give up its nutrients to the soil.