This week, I’ve been writing about observation as the starting point for regenerative design.
Today, I’ve been working with colleagues at Hazel Hill Wood to envision a year-long process of investigating what timber is currently—or could be—available for harvesting from the wood to use in our buildings. In a sense, we are learning to tell the wood from the trees.
Through this process, I foresee the following levels of timber availability:
- Ready – Timber that has already been felled, sawn, and seasoned—ready to be used immediately.
- Ready for processing/seasoning – Timber that has been felled but still needs additional preparation, such as seasoning.
- Ready for felling – Mature trees that are best harvested now to make the most of their timber potential.
- Needs tending to – Timber that could become valuable in the future but requires care now—such as thinning or pruning lower branches—to ensure a high-quality crop later.
- Needs time – Young trees that aren’t yet ready for harvesting but can be planned for as part of a long-term strategy.
- Needs imagining – The trees that don’t yet exist. With thoughtful, long-term planning, we can envision trees growing in the future—trees that may one day be harvested, perhaps not by us, but by future generations.
It’s this final phase that I find particularly magical: imagining the wood from the trees. It’s about seeing what’s missing and planting the seeds—both literal and metaphorical—that could flourish decades from now.
All of this thinking reminds me that the role of the regenerative designer is imagine a thriving future and take steps towards creating that future. It begins with observation and imagination.