The Living Living Lab's new exhibition, 'Circular Timber—From Salvage to Showcase,' was officially opened last night by Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin.

In August 2024, the NSWRA announced a project involving the UTS School of Design where Associate Professor Berto Pandolfo and his team carefully deconstructed two buyback homes that could not be relocated. At the time, a statement said, "For homes that are not able to be relocated, where it is economically viable, materials will be salvaged and recycled as much as possible to reduce landfill."  

Professor Pandolfo said this project was exciting "because of its history relating to the source of material and the potential for recovering material that was lost within the community."

"Circularity is also an opportunity to develop new ways of thinking about how things are made."

Mayor Steve Krieg said as a former woodwork teacher he admired the timbers that were used and the craftsmanship of its creators, "It's all about using these material in the best way possible," he said.

Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin has been involved with the Living Lab since its inception, which involved the start of this project.

"I've seen the work that Berto and his team have done, and I saw it in practice; it's just wonderful."

"I just wanted everyone to know that we will repurpose, we will also recycle where we can, but we're also in a recovery program that wasn't designed for that. So, a lot of the work that we do is catching up or trying to fit a square peg in a round hole."

Elizabeth Mossop, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Academic Director of the Living Lab acknowledged the involvement and the engagement of the incredible Northern Rivers community of timber workers and makers.

Part of that community was Dan and John from REDinc (a disability services provider) who created a coat rack and bench from hardwood.

"Dan actually saw it on Facebook," John said, "He came in one day and said, I've seen this thing on Facebook. So I spoke to Jenny London, who then contacted them, and they said, Great, send us a proposal. So we kind of talked about something simple we could make. And came up with a hatstand and the table, and then we thought a few candles to give, give it a bit of atmosphere.

(Dan and John showing off their timber creation at last night's Circular Timber exhibition)

Dan and John not only used a buyback home but also some old railway spikes when it was being cleared for the Rail Trail in another use or reusing materials designed for another purpose.

Peter and Dave designed and built a cultural sunset dreaming seat.

"We came together to use it as a sculpture project for this, Sunset Dreaming. It's like when we go into our dreaming and just look at the sun going down in the afternoon," Peter explained.

(Dave and Peter, behind their Sunset Dreaming creation)

Dave was thinking about what could happen in the future. "We're open to the possibilities. I'm not sure what Dan and Susie, who are running the Living Lab here, what their idea is, but I think these are really designed as prototypes to potentially be used for future projects or installations.

"It'd be great to see a few of these around the city here. They're sort of nice objects for people to come and sit and share a space together."

You can head into the Living Lab next week to read and take in the 'Circular Timber - From Salvage to Showcase' exhibition.

The Living Lab is open Tuesday to Thursday between 1 and 4pm at 11 Woodlark Street, Lismore CBD (near the Molesworth Street roundabout).