Think Locally: Sugar Maple a Home-Grown Alternative to Baltic Birch, Architect Says

By Teri Hoang

Lady Marmalade, a beloved local brunch restaurant in my Toronto neighbourhood of Leslieville, closed for about four months a while ago, announcing a plan to re-open in a new location. Locals waited with great anticipation to see the new space. When the eatery re-opened at a nearby building on Broadview Ave., the space had undergone two years of renovations. The restaurant threw open its doors to reveal a newly renovated space, completely covered in a light-coloured wood, essentially resembling a “wooden box”. It was refreshing to see wood being showcased in such a way at the local brunch spot.

Architects covered the restaurant's interior in 5,000 square feet of Baltic Birch paneling. “The use of the baltic wood panels provided a clean, bright–yet–homey feeling and reflected the food served, non-greasy, locally sourced, and beautifully presented,” Omar Ghandi, the architect, told The Globe and Mail in June 2020. Baltic Birch comes from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and is primarily produced in Finland and Russia. We reached out to the architect firm for comments, but we did not receive an answer by press time.

Building with wood has benefits. It’s the only renewable building material and it sequesters carbon. Wood is also aesthetically pleasing, and exposure to wood contributes positively to human well-being. But what if the wood has come from far away? The carbon footprint is larger, with more CO2 being emitted to the atmosphere due to it travelling a long distance.

Locally grown Ontario wood such as maple, oak, and pine can help reduce the carbon footprint. Using local wood also ensures that it is sustainably managed and harvested, as Ontario is a world leader in sustainable forest management. David Sisam, Principal Emeritus at Montgomery Sisam Architects Inc., and a member of the board of Forests Ontario, says maple paneling would have achieved similar results to the Baltic Birch. He adds that “the relatively new focus on embodied carbon emissions (the carbon footprint associated with building materials) has given more impetus to use local material, eliminating the carbon emissions resulting from transportation.”

Ontario wood is in our heritage, from the White Pine to the majestic oak and maple. It is sustainability harvested and processed locally, of high quality, supports local communities and economies and is the best environmentally friendly choice. Rob Keen, CEO of Forests Ontario, reminds us “that consumer choices have real consequences for businesses, and everyone should do their part.”

Thinking local shouldn’t just apply to your brunch, it should also apply to the wood products you buy. Before you make your next wood purchase, visit the Ontario government web site, Ontario Wood. It will help you source locally grown, sustainable products such as building supplies, flooring, lighting, furniture, or decorative and seasonal items. Think locally when it comes to wood!