In a warehouse in Co Armagh, Toasted Wood creates gorgeously charred cladding sparked by careful experimentation, and a healthy dose of curiosity.
There’s something mesmerising about fire. Perhaps it’s a primal reaction rooted deep within us that draws us to its dancing flames. And despite its central role in our lives for millennia, it’s still a force to be feared, holding the possibility of destruction in every flicker.
Developed centuries ago in Japan, the art of yakisugi or shou sugi ban epitomises this contrast perfectly – charring wood to make it fireproof, as well as deterring insects and preventing rot. Yet take the process too far, and you’re left with ashes.
The beautifully blackened, textured finish is what Sasha Stewart fell in love with back in 2016 when undertaking her own self-build in Co Armagh. “I fell down the rabbit hole of interior magazines and Pinterest, and just loved the effect of charred cladding,” she says. As well as its dramatic aesthetic, she felt its practicality was perfect for the project. “Raw wood ages in such a different way, and it can be patchy. So I knew I didn’t want that, or the maintenance of having to repaint every year.”
The problem was, she couldn’t get it in Ireland. Underwhelmed by samples from the UK, she turned to America, where the technique is much more established. “I ordered samples out of curiosity, and they were just beautiful,” she says. “I knew it was definitely what I wanted, but I couldn’t get it so I just thought, ‘I’ll do it myself’.”
Cut to Sasha taking her first ever selfie: “It was me with a blowtorch I had just hired, and I sent it to my husband. He was upping my life insurance, and meanwhile I became totally obsessed,” she laughs. She in fact spent a full year burning every species of wood she could get her hands on, and making detailed notes.
For such an ancient technique, it’s surprisingly difficult to find out much about it, Sasha explains. “It’s a bit like Willy Wonka’s factory. It’s a really secretive industry and nobody wants to say how they’re doing it: how long you burned it for, what temperatures, and all the different techniques. So it was a lot of trial and error, and a lot of mistakes were made. But I just loved it.”
Her own home became her first project, and with 400 square metres of chocolatey cedar cladding on the exterior, it gave her plenty of practice. When it was finished, Sasha thought she might do a few projects on the side for other people, but Toasted Wood has been in high demand in the five years it’s been in business.
Sasha offers five main species of wood that are particularly suited to the burning process, and each one can be treated to anything from a light toast to the blistered, leathery effect known as alligator.
Each piece is burned up to six times, as all the cellulose sugars in the wood need to be burnt away, leaving nothing for bacteria, fungus or insects to feed on. Each style of char requires different heat intensity and burn times, and some also get brushed to reveal the texture, before being finished with a sealant, which is, naturally, also top secret.
What might surprise people, Sasha says, is that it’s an incredibly nuanced practice. She is, after all, working with materials that were once alive, and so no two pieces of wood are the same. “It’s an artisan process, and you have to have a feel for it. You can’t just blast everything with fire and hope for the best.”
That being said, as well as the artistry, the process is undoubtedly physical. Sasha says that she “looks like a coal miner most of the time. There’s a lot of lifting timber. I have biceps on me like Sylvester Stallone, and it’s really dirty and dusty, but I just love it.”
As well as working on external cladding for homes and businesses (including a beautiful home outside Belfast that appeared in our last issue), Sasha has recently noticed more requests for cladding for interior projects. She has used it in her own home, so can show people how effective it can be. The trend was more than confirmed when she received a call from renowned interior designer Abigail Ahern. Toasted Wood’s inky timber can now be spotted in the background of many of the designer’s Instagram posts, as she used it in her own home. “I was awestruck,” Sasha says. “Isn’t it amazing, I’m in a chicken shed in Armagh and Abigail Ahern is phoning me?”
Sasha seems in many ways surprised by her success, but her infectious enthusiasm for what she does means it’s not hard to see where it has come from. And despite having impressive names on her client list, including Microsoft and Nando’s, she wants to keep the business at a level where she can still be hands-on with projects, employing just one other person, her “right-hand lady” Lucy.
One of her favourite things about what she does, she muses, is the reactions of self-builders when the cladding goes up on their home. Having gone through this herself, she completely understands the elation.
“There’s a few milestones in the build, and putting the cladding on is one of those lovely processes that really changes the building. It’s quite a visual ‘wow’ moment, and you suddenly see what the house is going to look like. I got a voicemail yesterday from a client literally screaming down the phone – I love how excited people get.”
Photography: Al Higgins
