Ancient timber · New Zealand made
Wolffmark makes one off timber furniture in Tauranga, New Zealand, from remarkable material: Ancient Kauri preserved beneath Northland for tens of thousands of years, alongside New Zealand grown and native timbers selected for grain, provenance and character.
History held in timber
Wolffmark starts with provenance. Age, origin, grain and scale determine the piece; the design follows.
Kauri forest once covered about 1.2 million hectares of northern New Zealand. Today mature kauri survives in scattered remnants and is largely protected. Swamp kauri is different: trees that fell naturally and were sealed underground in peat and wet ground, protected from oxygen and decomposition for between 800 and 60,000 years. It is salvaged, finite and regulated — not timber cut from today's surviving kauri forest.
Coast redwood is native to the Pacific coast of North America and has been grown successfully in New Zealand for more than a century. New Zealand grown redwood is straight grained, warm in colour, easy to work and notably dimensionally stable, qualities that suit broad, substantial furniture.
Explore the wider material library including Cryptomeria, Cypress, Lawson Cypress, Macrocarpa and native Rimu.
Explore New Zealand timbersWhy Kauri carries weight
Kauri is one of New Zealand's great forest trees, capable of living for more than 2,000 years. European logging, gum extraction, fire and land clearance transformed the northern landscape; Te Ara records only about 7,455 hectares of mature kauri forest remaining today.
Ancient swamp kauri is a separate legacy beneath the ground. MPI estimates that 50–70% of Northland's swamp kauri resource may still remain buried, while also noting that significant amounts may never receive approval for extraction or milling. What can be recovered is a finite, tightly regulated resource with scientific, cultural and heritage value.
Its growth rings are used by scientists to study ancient climates, ecosystems, environmental change and radiocarbon dating. In furniture, the same material becomes something more immediate: a physical piece of New Zealand's deep past that can still be lived with.
Available pieces
A small number of completed Wolffmark pieces are available for immediate purchase. The first Ancient Kauri River Table also establishes a four table series from one original slab.
The first of four tables made from one approximately 250 mm Ancient Kauri slab, with black resin and a raw New Zealand fabricated steel base.
View the piece
New Zealand-grown coast redwood shaped around long grain, generous scale and exposed timber joinery.
View the pieceAvailable timber
Ancient Kauri Series I began with one exceptional slab approximately 250 mm thick. The slab yielded enough usable material for four substantial tables.
Table 01 is complete. The material for Tables 02, 03 and 04 remains unfinished and is available to commission. Natural edges, grain and the individual sections cut from the original slab mean none of the four tables can be repeated.
The remaining timber stays unmade until each table is commissioned. Dimensions, resin treatment and base are resolved for the client and the intended space while the timber remains the starting point.
Selected commissions
Wolffmark accepts a limited number of commissions. The process begins with material already held by Wolffmark, then dimensions and proportions are developed for the intended space.
Watch the process
These are the actual builds. The timber, preparation, joinery, finishing and final assembly behind two Wolffmark pieces.
Follow the build from the split Kauri slab and recomposed live edges through the river construction, surface finishing and final assembly on its raw steel base.
See the table develop from the original redwood slab through fabrication of the timber base, exposed joinery, assembly and final finishing.
Made in Tauranga
Selection, design, construction and finishing are treated as one continuous process. Natural edges, old grain, colour shifts and the marks of the material remain visible where they belong.
Resin, steel and joinery support the timber rather than compete with it. The aim is not to make old material look new. It is to make furniture strong enough to carry its history into another generation.
Furniture for generations
Enquiries
Enquire about an available table or a selected commission. Tell us about the room, the people who will gather there and the material you want to live with.