Meet the expert craftsman bringing the

‘timber hub’ to life in a Brisbane office

Sharing a vision… Peter Arcus and Mick Stephens at the ‘timber hub’ in Brisbane.

WHEN Timber Queensland and Responsible Wood relocated tougher at their new offices in Brisbane, an opportunity arose for both to create a ‘timber hub’ – a shared vision to showcase Responsible Wood certified Queensland timber species to visitors and stakeholders. 

Working with long-term Timber Queensland members and stakeholders, the timber hub has undergone a transformation with timber materials and supplies for the new fit-out donated by a variety of members.

And behind every great transformation is an expert craftsman.

Enter Peter Arcus of Anything Wood, who draws on 45 years of craftsmanship in carpentry and joinery:

“I was thrilled to be commissioned by Timber Queensland to be a part of this broad-spectrum project,” Peter said. “It was not without its fair share of construction issues but sorting these and getting results satisfactory to all involved is always for me a powerful motivator. And all the while keeping within budget.”

A native New Zealander, Peter runs his own timber joinery operation in Brisbane and has also spent time working on Norfolk Island as manager of the local sawmill and timber cabinetry business.

With a passion for joinery and music, Peter’s company Anything Wood specialises in delivering bespoke timber carpentry and joinery services.

He installed the pre-fabricated walls as well as other on-site detailing, including timber doors and cladding, bringing the original vision for Timber Queensland developed by Mark Hogan from Architectus to life.

Individual offices, common and break areas and the foyer have been framed with a variety of timbers and hardwood upright dowels – a deliberate emphasis on ‘biomorphism’ where wood is used to reflect the patterns and shapes as seen in nature.

“The concept from day one was to reflect the warm and wonderful features of wood as well as showcase the variety of commercial timber products and species produced in Queensland,” Timber Queensland CEO Mick Stephens said.

The ‘timber forest’ screens in the foyer were a highlight of the project and a testimony to Peter and his craftsmanship, having put into practice the artistic vision of the concept design.

As the project nears completion, the next phase will be the installation of timber furniture including an exquisite board room table using three Far North Queensland species sourced from Branch95 and produced by DTM Timber in Maryborough. Mary Valley Timbers from Dagun are also producing a raised meeting table using local eucalyptus hardwood from southeast Queensland.

“As a finishing touch, I’d also like to enhance the office space with a locally crafted timber surfboard as a well as a fine acoustic guitar made with local wood species,” Mick Stephens said.

“This would provide additional life and ambience to the office space and would represent the ubiquitous nature of wood in our everyday lives. Many of the great people working in the Queensland timber industry are avid surfers, and at the end of the day who doesn’t like music?”

The offices will be officially opened on March 18 by Queensland Housing Minister Mick de Brenni. This will be followed on March 19 by the Doing Timber Business in Queensland symposium with a linked IFA field trip to Imbil near Gympie in the Wide Bay-Burnett region on March 21 – the UN’s International Day of Forests.