Kumbuk

A tree that spends its life holding a river together.

Kumbuk grows along Sri Lanka’s riverbanks, its roots holding the earth and naturally helping clarify the water. In the east, the Kumbukkan Oya bears its name.

The Kumbuk we work with is exceptionally rare, recovered from riverbeds after more than 500 years underwater. Found only by chance, it reaches our workshop in small quantities, each board unlike the next.

We reserve it for surfaces seen and touched for a lifetime: a tabletop, a shelf, the seat of a stool.

BotanicalTerminalia arjuna

OriginSri Lanka

Where it growsRiver banks and tank bunds

SupplyFrom Tucker Robbins 2020

Bespoke Furniture line crafted in Brooklyn

Chowa Library Furniture

Furniture born from the spaces we create. Each piece reflects our appreciation for material, proportion, utility, and the quiet intelligence of in-house craftsmanship.

Most of what we make begins as a room. A piece is drawn for a particular wall and a particular light, then made once, for that place. Much of the collection is built in kumbuk, the hardwood we have come to work in most often, alongside the paulownia we have used since the beginning. Everything is made by hand at the Chowa Woodshop in Brooklyn, with one exception. The Chowa Chair is produced at a factory in Finland, which is a story of its own.