To us, this is quite a special project, as opportunities to work with solid wood are occasional. Commissioned by a local church, this project sees us collaborating with our friends at Uncommon Goods, with Little People Woodworks making the pulpit and baptismal table, and Uncommon Goods creating a platform from chengal wood and a lectern from birch ply.
Singapore fells quite a number of trees every day, and we are happy to find a local yard, Timber Actually, who harvests the timber from felled trees. African mahogany, also known as khaya, is one of the few timber types available from the yard, and we were delighted when the church chose it as the material for the pulpit.
The grain and colour of African mahogany is quite a visual feast, with a dusky pink hue before coating.
One of the planks in the batch came with a distinctive flame-like pattern, likely a legacy of encounters with worms or beetles.
As it evokes the story of the burning bush, Mihai decided to use that plank in the front panel of the pulpit.
We also had our wood-sculpting friend from the Made Agency create the decorative columns on the side. In Romanian iconography, these columns symbolise mortality and its inevitability.
