Britton Timbers completed a flooring project at 1 Bligh Street
encompassing three floors of parquetry. The project scope also included an
installation named ‘Drift’ that was positioned to intercept visitors entering
the building, daring them to pause and consider its thought-provoking
expression of the form and motion of the harbour city.
The flooring project for 1 Bligh Street involved the installation of Victorian
Ash parquetry on 1800 square metres across the three floors. Chris Fox who
worked on the installation said it was his first experience working with
Victorian Ash. However, the timber worked well for him, responding to all the cutting,
laminating and end-matching required for the job.
To ensure full Chain of Custody Certification, the timber for the
flooring project as well as for the Drift installation, was sourced and
supplied through a partnership between Australian Sustainable Hardwoods and
Britton Timbers.
Drift was sculptured from AFS and PEFC certified Victorian Ash timber
that was cut and machined into 360,000 matching end-grain parquetry pieces at
Britton Timber's Victorian machining facility. The installation’s underwater
landscape flows up and out of the floor in a rolling wave that also captures
perfectly the essence of the modern, thrusting office blocks defining corporate
Sydney.
According to Chris, it was challenging to work with the wood in
different locations before finally bringing Drift together at the
building. In addition to marked differences in humidity between their workshop
and the Bligh Street offices, the timber was layered and textured, requiring
the material to be tested under different conditions.
Chris has also installed a companion work 'Tracing
Back to Bligh' located on another floor in the building; he advises
visitors to view both installations in tandem to get another perspective of the
topographical and human influences on the city.
