Southern oak
The ultimate wood is the wood we harvest ourselves; everything we make from solid oak is now sourced locally
Oak – a superior Norwegian wood
Beautiful, flexible and durable. So resistant to moisture, and so rich in tannins, that oak wine barrels can be used for over a century before being recycled. Burnt oak fence posts have endured hundreds of years in the soil without rotting. No Norwegian wood is better suited for furniture, kitchens, interiors or exteriors. None better withstands attacks from insects or fungi. And it is here, in the southern part of Norway, that most of our oak trees grow. This is where the oak nuts fall.
Into the woods
When we decided to make the Under collection, it quickly became clear that locally harvested oak was the most suitable material. Trond Hamran wandered the Agder forests himself to find the best trees. And so he wrote a new chapter of the Hamran story: From now on, we will use as much locally harvested hardwood as possible in our production. We will do what we can to prevent Norwegian hardwood – the finest building materials in our flora – from ending up as woodchips. Sustainability is not something we take lightly – it must inform everything we do. And no Norwegian wood is more sustainable than oak.
A chair is also a tree
Extensive use of locally harvested wood benefits our climate, as wood binds CO2, even as a finished product. Climatically speaking, an oak chair is therefore still an oak tree. Production at Hamran takes place without the use of harmful substances and needs little energy. We bring back old techniques and use them in new, even more efficient ways. Since everything we create lasts for generations, our overall environmental footprint becomes marginal.
A slow material
In addition to the wood we cut ourselves, we collaborate with local forest owners and sawmills that deliver first-rate oak to our drying plant. Because the wood is so compact and hard, it takes a long time for it to become sufficiently dry. But it’s worth the wait. Not much compares to the golden hue that oak furniture obtains after many years of use. Or the silver shine of an oak wall exposed to the sun. Or all the little marks that future generations will put on what we decide to make from the wood – when the time is right. We just need to let it dry first.