Adreonna RaineyChase Lobaldo, 3rd year product design student, was working in the Fabrication Lab at the University of Kentucky’s College of Design, when the Office of Sustainability approached him with a clear goal in mind: create a multi-person workspace where students, employees, and visitors can work and conversate in front of the large glass windows overlooking the intersection of S Limestone and S Upper.
Lobaldo transformed raw materials from a red oak tree that unfortunately had to be removed from campus into a functional work bar. In order to preserve that tree’s legacy, the Campus Woods program worked to recover the lumber from the tree for use in campus projects. Now, what once provided shade and shelter outdoors supports all manner of everyday work in the office.
Because the work bar was made from reclaimed wood, the design process came with challenges. The wood was unfortunately damaged, torn, and brittle in spots, as well as having some naturally occurring flaws. Rather than removing these features, Lobaldo worked carefully around them, maintaining the tree’s natural and current state while improving its stability and usability.
For Lobaldo, repurposing the tree mattered because it kept the material and its story connected to the university, rather than discarding it or replacing it with something shipped in from elsewhere. The work bar reflects a shift in sustainability beyond recycling, showing firsthand how reclaimed materials can be transformed into something functional, durable, and meaningful.
The tree was housed and processed through the University of Kentucky’s Campus Woods program, where the wood was milled and kiln-dried before construction began. From there, Lobaldo cut the slab down the middle to reach the width he wanted, then selected one half to become the work bar. He flattened the slab using a CNC router and rounded the edges with a handheld router.
After shaping the piece, the finishing process became the most time-consuming part of the project. Once the surface was complete, Lobaldo applied a clear polyurethane finish to protect the wood and match another reclaimed table located in the Office of Sustainability, made by University of Kentucky product design students some years back.
“Woodworking was the most essential skill I used in this project,” said Lobaldo. “I had previous experience from working in shops and working at the FabLab, so I felt comfortable taking on the project.”
Lobaldo said one of the most rewarding parts of the process was completing the work from start to finish. “I’ve never had the opportunity to complete a design project like this at the university before. This was the summer going into my 3rd year of product design, so it was a great opportunity.”
Now that the work bar is installed and being used, Lobaldo hopes students enjoy the space and make it part of their routines, and believes this type of project has strong potential to continue across campus, especially because reclaimed woodworking creates meaningful outcomes with a unique story behind them.
