London-based Tasmanian designer, Brodie Neill has launched his new design ReCoil, a centrepiece crafted with forgotten timber reclaimed from Tasmania’s lakes. Brodie Neill is known for his mastery of materials, form, and process. Continuum shows his major, upcycled works. ReCoil is presented by not-for- profit design advocates Design Tasmania with timber innovators Hydrowood in partnership with the Tasmanian Government.
ReCoil is an elliptical centrepiece dining table. It is made entirely of precious reclaimed Hydrowood timber veneer offcuts. Seven native Tasmanian tree species are featured. These include Huon pine, Tasmanian Oak, Celery Top Pine, Sassafras, Myrtle and Blackwood. The veneers are meticulously coiled by hand in outward spirals. These reference the trees’ annual growth rings. The finished table is 2.2m x 1.4m x 78cm H. It comprises 3km of veneer strips. The effect of a spectrum of wood tones from honey to burnt umber. The honey-coloured wood is the rarest and most treasured of all Tasmanian timbers, Huon pine, and the burnt umber is Tasmanian Oak.
The actual colour combinations and sequence of the veneers is randomised into a blueprint consisting of all the species and their many lengths of scraps. The resulting combinations of the veneers mesmerise, demanding attention. The woods release their unique oils, particularly of notice is the scented Huon pine. The tabletop has been CNC trimmed smooth, flush cut. The surface is polished, finished with resin. The table stem is made of larger pieces of veneer. The impact of Recoil comes from its refined, innovative process, and positive message.
Hydrowood reclaims trees that were lost underwater when a forest in the Pieman River valley, on Tasmania’s rugged west coast, were submerged for a hydroelectricity scheme in the 1980s. The veneers offcuts were sent to Reliance Veneers in Stamford Hill, London, where they were cut. A randomised algorithm set the patterns for Neill to execute. The veneers are hand coiled, a process that took over 60 hours, over many days. The surface is CNC trimmed, flush cut, with a gloss finish of resin. Recoil has been made in the Brodie Neill studio in North-East London.
Seven native Tasmanian tree species are featured. These include Huon pine, Tasmanian Oak, Celery Top Pine, Sassafras, Myrtle and Blackwood. The tree ages ranges from 100-200 years old Oak through to 2000 year old Huon Pine. While the trees are underwater, they are slowly breaking down releasing the greenhouse gas, methane and carbon dioxide. Methane is 20-30x worse than CO2. By removing the trees, stabilising, and using the timber in the built environment, Hydro wood is halting this release.
Brodie Neill Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, Brodie Neill studied Furniture Design at the Tasmanian School of Art before completing his Master’s at the Rhode Island School of Design (US). Neill is known for his mastery of materials, form, and process. He crafts inventive, resourceful, beautiful contemporary design works. Brodie Neill recontextualises and transforms not only virgin materials, but the forgotten, the waste, the discarded, into mesmerizingly beautiful, refined designs. All of this with a strong message that is elegantly contained in each piece. They embody care, environment, origin, and lifecycle. Eminently collectable, Brodie Neill designs can be found in galleries and museums, as well as the home, particularly with Made in Ratio.
For more visit: designtasmania.com.au
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