// Text by Form & Refine
// Images by Bibi Berge
In all our furniture designs there is our love for wood - it is our favourite material. It is organic. It just grows out of the ground and provides us with fresh air as it grows. If the trees are felled responsibly and the wood is processed sustainably, the CO₂ emissions from wooden furniture are low.
It is a material that requires expertise to work with, and it is constantly changing. It radiates warmth, life and liveliness. It expands or contracts, depending on the environment. And it gains additional beauty with time.
Damsbo Forest is a huge Danish forest on the island of Funen, where the sea meets the forest and the plant life merges with the rest of nature. The forest is partly on the mainland and partly in the coastal area, towards Jutland - a great location for an outstanding forest area. The forest, which is at least 700 years old, is over 200 hectares in size.
FROM
DENMARK
The Damsbo forest has always been managed very carefully. With sustainable forest management - with natural regeneration over all the years - it is a very natural process that a few trees are felled every year.
OnlyForm & Refine has a certain number of cubic metres available per year. It will never and can never come to mass production in the forest. We can guarantee a sustainable product from Denmark, with a workshop close by.
DENMARK
In Damsbo forest, many different species of deciduous trees and conifers grow. They are allowed to grow much longer than anywhere else, which gives the wood a high density, beautifully defined knotholes and a special shine. Trees have to grow for about 25 to 30 years before they can develop a natural protective layer against bacterial attack and fungi. However, if a tree grows even longer - as all trees in Damsbo forest do - they become even more resistant.
Temperature and climate also have an influence on how a tree grows. The forest's location on the island of Funen provides exceptionally good conditions for growth. Winters are usually mild, but weather conditions change because the forest is located in the temperate zone, where different air masses from the Atlantic, the Arctic and Eastern Europe meet.
THE OAK
Danish oak from the Damsbo forest is one of the finest oak varieties available. Due to its long growth and high density, it is in great demand. It has clearly defined knotholes and a noble colour. In addition, Damsbo oak is hard-wearing and durable - and it is not prone to cracking and throwing. Oak wood also contains a lot of tannin, which makes it robust enough for outdoor use for 50 to 75 years.
