Wood

The forest's patient offering.

Wood is sunlight and time made tangible. As Earth Rise, we meet this ancient material as collaborators. We honor its history, its grain, and its spirit, crafting structures and forms that speak to the quiet wisdom of the forest. Our work with wood is a practice of reciprocity, transforming its strength and warmth into spaces of sanctuary and connection.

A Philosophical Core:

To build with wood is to accept a gift. We acknowledge the life given and strive to honor it by creating work of lasting meaning and utility. Our approach is one of reverence, not extraction. It is a practice that sees the forest not as a resource, but as a kin and a collaborator in building a more beautiful and resilient world.

Working with Wood is Right Relation:

• Carbon Kinship
  A tree is an act of air made solid. In its growth, it draws carbon from the atmosphere. By crafting wood into enduring forms, we sequester that carbon, making each project a tangible reversal of the industrial cycle and a testament to climate positive creation.

• Local Story
  We believe in knowing the source of our materials. We work with local millers, salvage fallen timber, and seek out wood from forests cared for with ecological reverence. This practice roots each project in its place, honoring the specific trees and the history of the land.

• Joinery as Language
  We build with connection, not extraction. Techniques like timber framing are a meditation on skill. These precise joints create structures that are expressive, adaptable, and repairable. They allow a building to be disassembled and its story to continue, challenging the idea of permanent waste.

• Sensory Sanctuary
  Wood appeals to the senses. It offers acoustic softness, tactile warmth, and visual calm. We treat each knot and curve not as a flaw but as a unique fingerprint, allowing the material's character to guide our hands and create atmospheres of grounded serenity.

Our Wood Practices:

• Timber Framing: The art of creating structural skeletons with heavy timbers joined by precision woodworking. We employ this method for its strength, beauty, and the cathedral like space it creates.

• Cordwood Masonry: A technique where short, round logs are set in a mortar matrix, creating deeply insulated walls with a stunning mosaic like end grain pattern.

• Reclaimed Lumber: Using wood that tells a story, whether from a fallen local tree or carefully salvaged from a deconstructed barn. We prioritize character and history over perfection.

• Sculptural Elements: Integrating wood as pure artistry, such as a carved door pull or a live edge slab, to highlight its organic, untamed beauty.