Turning House to Reclaim Wood from Reynolds Tobacco Warehouses
September 9, 2009
Turning House Furniture, Bassett, Va., will give new life to more than 230,000 board feet of vintage wood from abandoned tobacco warehouses at the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. campus in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Built between 1919 and 1925, the buildings' southern long leaf pine, oak and sugar maple will be used in one-of-a-kind furniture pieces, flooring and architectural elements.
"The wood discovered in the beams and decking will save more than 92 acres of full growth forest, the equivalent of nearly 1,403 trees," said Spencer Morten III, CEO and chairman of Turning House Furniture. "When the warehouses are deconstructed by the end of the year, seven decades of history will be reclaimed and reborn as new products, each complete with a story."
To date, Turning House Furniture has utilized reclaimed lumber from historic sites including the Corriher Mill in Landis, N.C.; the Rip Van Winkle Distillery's Lawrenceburg Warehouse in Lawrenceburg, Ky.; the Greeneville Redrying Co. warehouse, Greeneville, Tenn.; and Bessemer City Cotton Mill in Bessemer City, N.C. The deconstruction team has mastered the reclamation process, thereby recycling 98 percent of each building.
"The woods that were used to build the beams and the floors of these tobacco warehouses offer a great sense of history," Morten said. "At Turning House Furniture we plan to extend that life and create a new history by making tens of thousands of beautiful furniture pieces with these reclaimed woods that can't be found anywhere else."
Turning House is a vertically integrated organization. Sister company, Turning House Millworks in Landis, N.C., provides the wood for Turning House Furniture by deconstructing old, abandoned buildings destined for landfills. Beautiful old growth hardwoods harvested from old factories, mills and tobacco warehouses are given new life as furniture, flooring, cabinets and other building products.
Turning House Millworks is a member of the U.S. Green Buildings Council, and offers full documentation for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits on all reclaimed lumber products. Turning House Furniture, a member of the Sustainability Furnishings Council, is based in Bassett, Va. and targets upscale retailers and interior designers.
Built between 1919 and 1925, the buildings' southern long leaf pine, oak and sugar maple will be used in one-of-a-kind furniture pieces, flooring and architectural elements.
"The wood discovered in the beams and decking will save more than 92 acres of full growth forest, the equivalent of nearly 1,403 trees," said Spencer Morten III, CEO and chairman of Turning House Furniture. "When the warehouses are deconstructed by the end of the year, seven decades of history will be reclaimed and reborn as new products, each complete with a story."
To date, Turning House Furniture has utilized reclaimed lumber from historic sites including the Corriher Mill in Landis, N.C.; the Rip Van Winkle Distillery's Lawrenceburg Warehouse in Lawrenceburg, Ky.; the Greeneville Redrying Co. warehouse, Greeneville, Tenn.; and Bessemer City Cotton Mill in Bessemer City, N.C. The deconstruction team has mastered the reclamation process, thereby recycling 98 percent of each building.
"The woods that were used to build the beams and the floors of these tobacco warehouses offer a great sense of history," Morten said. "At Turning House Furniture we plan to extend that life and create a new history by making tens of thousands of beautiful furniture pieces with these reclaimed woods that can't be found anywhere else."
Turning House is a vertically integrated organization. Sister company, Turning House Millworks in Landis, N.C., provides the wood for Turning House Furniture by deconstructing old, abandoned buildings destined for landfills. Beautiful old growth hardwoods harvested from old factories, mills and tobacco warehouses are given new life as furniture, flooring, cabinets and other building products.
Turning House Millworks is a member of the U.S. Green Buildings Council, and offers full documentation for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits on all reclaimed lumber products. Turning House Furniture, a member of the Sustainability Furnishings Council, is based in Bassett, Va. and targets upscale retailers and interior designers.
