This is a small division of our company that specializes in creating outdoor benches using reclaimed BC Cedar that we extract from the woods near Squamish. After a bit of exploration along the logging roads up there, we found a large rock slide on the side of a mountain that had taken out an entire grove of old growth cedar. The wood looked to be in pretty bad shape, but I could tell by cutting into it that there was alot of excellent material left (and it smelled amazing!). The picture on the right is the truckload that we were able to pull out on one trip using big green.

Below you will find a bunch of pictures of the outdoor furniture that we created with this reclaimed cedar along with some other elements that were built using recycled cedar (although not pulled from the bush).

It seems like there is a movement toward natural playgrounds these days. Everyone wants one. LA’s love to spec them in their plans, daycare owners want them as a draw to their centre, parents like them because they are organic (free from chemicals), and challenge their kids’ imaginations. I would agree with all of these perspectives. Natural playgrounds are cool, there’s no doubt. However, I also believe there is a time and place for commercial playground equipment as well.

I like natural playgrounds that feature plants and materials that are endemic to that region. Here in Vancouver, Red Cedar seems to be the material of choice for this sort of application. Raw Red (or Yellow) Cedar is available from most wood suppliers, but we have pulled much of our wood from the bushes ourselves using a permit. All of the wood we have salvaged has already fallen or is driftwood. So basically, we are refurbishing garbage materials into usable product.