The sleek handcrafted bar you admired in your neighborhood restaurant and the brass-accented table you noticed in your favorite boutique probably have something in common: They were both made by the local craftsmen of GoodWood. GoodWood Nola has been designing and building many of the signature elements of the commercial and residential spaces of our city since 2014, and they are loved for their ability to design, custom build, and install just about anything you can imagine. I recently sat down with owner Jordan Rose to hear more about the story of GoodWood — how it started, their commitment to the New Orleans community, and how they are working with more than just wood these days. Here is what he shared:

Tell us the story of GoodWood — how did you get started?

In 2014, I was working at the World War II Museum doing the scenic work for the Road to Berlin exhibit — all the walls and the bullet holes and the plaster. It was really fun and a great learning experience, but I was working with a lot of people who were super talented and much older than me but making the same amount of money I was, so I wasn’t super encouraged about the trajectory of continuing that line of work. Then my original business partner and I had an opportunity to work with District Donuts, and they wanted us to build a little shelving unit. They liked what we designed and asked us to work on their new restaurant, so that was when we started work on District Donuts across from Whole Foods on Magazine Street. That was our first project: no workshop, no tools really, built it all out of a garage, slept onsite. While we were working on that project, we had a lot of people who were going to Romney, Dirty Coast, or Whole Foods stopping by and asking, “What are you guys doing? Who are you? What is going on here?” So we saw that we should probably make this a business because I had people all the time saying “Hey, can you make this?” or “Can you make a table?” or “Can you help me install this thing?” I knew there was a need in New Orleans for that type of work, so we decided to make the business and call it GoodWood. We booked three more projects before we finished that first job, so it was clear that there was a market for a custom builder in New Orleans. We started in a small workshop over in the Bywater area, and we now occupy a 16,000 square foot space.

Where do your woods and materials come from?

When we started, reclaimed wood was a really big trend, and there is a lot of it in New Orleans in the old homes that were built with old pine and cypress. We source that wood from companies that specialize in reclaiming it, so they remove the nails and prepare the wood which is really great because it allows us to use more of it. Sustainability has always been a priority for us, and we do our best to use sustainable hardwoods when we can, unless a client specifies otherwise. We use domestic lumber and even Louisiana lumber if we can. Louisiana has a great selection of hardwoods, but you can’t always get everything you need here for a project. We use a lot of walnut, which is beautiful and comes from the south; a lot of cherry, which is one of my favorite woods with that nice pink, rosy color; and maple, too — we use a lot of maple. Most of that wood is coming from the southern United States and we are procuring it through local vendors, and most of it is FSC-certified (meaning it is responsibly, sustainably harvested). 

I have seen several of your projects in metal and stone. Do you work with those materials, also?

GoodWood is a bit of a misnomer because we do way more than just wood. Roughly 60% of our projects are in wood and 40% in other materials. We work in steel, aluminum, brass — brass is really hot right now, everybody wants something made with brass so we’ve been working with it quite a bit. Often in our metalworking, the dining tables will have wood tops and steel bases. We also work with stone fabricators for custom stone projects, and we do a ton of paint finishing in our automotive-grade dustless finishing room. There are not a lot of companies like us that have the capacity for fine finishing, so we are really full-service: design, fabrication, finishing, and installation.

GoodWood is known for its exceptional craftsmanship. How have you built your team of craftsmen?

A few years ago I focused on building the team in such a way that it’s really more career-oriented people, because what I realized was that it’s hard to get your team to develop ownership over the work they’re doing if it’s not what they love to do. Our studio director has a Furniture Design degree from SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design), and everybody mostly has training in this field and this is what they want to do. GoodWood is either a stepping stone for them to eventually own their own studio or they’re planning to stay with us for the long-haul. That’s really increased the quality of our work quite a bit, because it’s not nearly as difficult to instill ownership over what you’re doing when the people who are making it really care about it. They’re going to take the time to do it the right way every time, and that really communicates through the finished product. 

What is your favorite thing to make?

I love to weld. Steel welding and table bases are probably my favorite thing. I tend to find the intensity of welding really engaging. It’s super bright and hot and loud, and it’s also a little more forgiving than wood, so if you mess up a little you can fix it a little easier. I’ve been making a lot of furniture for our home, so I would say mostly metalworking but also obviously woodworking.

GoodWood has been a leader in its commitment to sustainability and to the local community. Can you tell us about that?

Since we started GoodWood, we’ve been really focused on sustainability and our role in the community, making sure that we’re doing our best not only to recycle materials and use sustainable goods, but also to purchase things from local vendors and keep as much money in the local economy as possible. 80% of our annual revenue goes back into the local New Orleans economy. We make it a priority to engage with the community, so we have interns from Louisiana Green Corps and then do work-training programs. We work with Liberty’s Kitchen, we’ve donated a bunch of trays to Son of the Saint, and we donate all of our sawdust to Laughing Buddha Nursery and Local Cooling Farm. Our sustainability sets us apart from a lot of other custom fabricators, and we have made it a priority since day one. We’re certified sustainable and have received multiple awards for sustainability.

Has the demand for your locally-made products changed over the years?

I think New Orleans has always had a buy-local mentality — it’s kind of the way we operate — but more recently we have seen a big shift happening not only with residential customers but also with commercial customers where people want things made locally, even if it costs 20% more. The value of keeping that money flowing in New Orleans is becoming increasingly more important. On a lot of the really big commercial projects we’re working on, the clients are specifically looking to hire local fabricators. They don’t want to buy a bunch of overseas furniture because it’s really that local mentality: valuing something made here in New Orleans.

We love the work GoodWood is doing — not just the pieces they’re building, but also their commitment to supporting other small businesses in New Orleans. Think of GoodWood for your next custom project and don’t forget to tell them Scout sent you!