Crafting wonders of the natural world with wood

Subtle rasping sounds have been regular inside Mark Richey Woodworking for the last few years. Those noises are the sounds of team members hand-sanding thousands of individually cut pieces of wood, which will be painstakingly pieced together to form a massive desert canyon-inspired future installation.

While the project's name and location will remain anonymous (for now), today we want to talk about the unique techniques and processes it takes to recreate the wonders of the natural world with another natural material: ash.

By the numbers

This project is gigantic. As we noted, it's been underway for two years, but there are other notable numbers as well. It has taken 150,000 board feet of lumber, 350 sheets of plywood, 30,000 hours of shop labor, and 60-70 people's effort (dozens of our core team members, plus field installers) to assemble the 77,000+ machined parts needed to cover the 100,000 square feet of space.

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Choosing the right wood: Ash

"100 ash trees were harvested, translating to 2,854 ash blanks." –Greg Porfido, Chief Operating Officer, Mark Richey Woodworking

This project was made even more special by the inclusion of a threatened resource: ash trees.

Ash trees are under attack in 36 U.S. states and Canada by emerald ash borers, an exotic beetle whose larvae feed underneath the bark of ash trees.

A family in New Hampshire had many still-healthy ash trees on its property but knew they would be compromised soon.

The family wanted to harvest the trees before they became infected, which would devalue the ash and endanger the family's sugar maples. Fortuitously, a builder working on a family home connected the family with Mark Richey of Mark Richey Woodworking, who thought the ash wood would work well for the company's upcoming larger solid wood project.

Together with other construction and architectural professionals, Mark Richey Woodworking's team collaborated on a stunning new installation in an entirely different state that includes dry-stacked, hardwood curvilinear walls. Originally, the primary wood was going to be white oak, but when Mark Richey shared the story of the endangered ash, the environmentally-focused client was enthusiastic about memorializing ash to be enjoyed by generations of visitors and nature lovers.

Beyond being a threatened wood, ash is incredibly adaptable. It's one of the best woods for steambending, and it offers a wide color range. It's a good, local hardwood that’s durable, but easily worked, machines well, takes finish nicely, and allows for a bit of color toning.

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Wood that seeks to mimic stone

This project aims to showcase the majesty of surfaces carved by water. It reflects the specialized geometry and windswept smoothness that creates an unworldly experience.

When trying to evoke the feeling of stone, new techniques must be created. "We developed some new techniques, ones we haven’t used in the past or at this scale. The method of making these seemingly natural curvilinear surfaces, we haven't done that before," said Greg.

The idea of the cavernous install came from the designer, but Mark Richey Woodworking helped bring it to life. Greg said, "We took a really neat idea, and our challenge was how to help them get here with wood. We came up with several ideas, and it was very satisfying to find one that complemented the original idea. It’s not carved stone, but you can definitely make that leap when you look at it."

The entire project began with a virtual build technique."We used a virtual build technique where we built every single part, all the assemblies in modelspace, because almost every part had to be routed on a computer-controlled (CNC) router. This involved 3D parts: each must be modelled, sent to the CNC, cut to size, and assembled. We call that method dry stack assembly," said Greg.
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The focal point of the project

There's an oculus in the ceiling of this project that differentiates it from other spaces and projects completed by Mark Richey Woodworking.






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"It’s this beautiful sculptural shape that’s been blended into the building. It’s something you look at and go 'wow, how did they do that?' The rest of the building curves and undulates, with the ceiling doing the same. It’s its own element, but it's part of an ensemble building structure." –Greg

As the project will be wrapping up this year, team members are hustling to complete the challenging puzzle. After years of cutting, sanding, and assembling in sections in Mark Richey Woodworking's Massachusetts workshop, it will soon come together as a cohesive installation that will impress in scale and flow.

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