While Wimbledon may be drawing to a close, the latest racket-and-ball-based craze has steadily been steering attention away from tennis and onto a whole new form of indoor activity. As the UK finally catches up with the rest of Europe in realising padel’s credentials, new infrastructure is being rapidly built to keep up with demand.

That’s good news for surface brands such as engineered timber surfaces supplier Havwoods, who have been specified throughout SMASH. Designed by THG Studios, this new immersive padel venue in Manchester acts as a hybrid environment for sport, content creation and live events.

The project brings together high-performance gameplay and production-led spatial design within a single interior, with timber playing a key role in balancing durability, acoustics and visual warmth. Havwoods’ Azur flooring from the PurePlank collection forms a consistent base throughout the venue, selected for its light tone and reflective quality to help counter the enclosed nature of the space and enhance the sense of openness.

Elsewhere, Fresato Oak veneer has been used to define key feature elements including the SMASH feature wall and Slazenger ball plinth. The profiled surface introduces texture and shadow, adding depth to vertical planes that shift subtly under changing light conditions. In more functional areas, Hushwood Natural Oak has been specified for the equipment display and sports recovery bar, where its acoustic properties help moderate sound levels generated by filming, events and gameplay.

Paul Moody, Global Digital & Marketing Director at Havwoods, says the project demonstrates how timber is being used beyond purely aesthetic applications.

"Projects such as SMASH demonstrate how timber can contribute far beyond aesthetics," he says. "Whether through flooring, textured wall surfaces or acoustic applications, wood helps introduce warmth, improve comfort and create a stronger connection between people and the spaces they use."

The SMASH project follows a period of broader activity for Havwoods, including this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week, where the company collaborated with Italian furniture brand True Design in its London showroom. The basement space was reconfigured as part of a three-day installation exploring the relationship between furniture, flooring and wall surfaces. The presentation ran throughout the festival and brought together a range of timber applications, from joinery and wall cladding to flooring systems, with an emphasis on material continuity across interior environments.

Alongside its project work, Havwoods has also introduced its latest WoodBook, a curated overview of recent product developments, collections and design applications that reflects the scale of its expanding portfolio. The publication includes updates across both the Henley and Venture Plank ranges, as well as the introduction of Patterna, a new collection that reinterprets end-grain timber as a series of geometric, customisable surface patterns including Chevron, Grid, Sailboat and Ladder.

Manufactured from responsibly sourced timber, Patterna exposes the densest part of the wood through cross-cut sections, combining durability with a distinctive visual texture. New colourways across the Henley range are also introduced, inspired by traditional timber vessels used in the storage and transport of liquids, while Venture Plank has been extended with a wider family of walnut products across multiple formats and laying patterns.

Havwoods also continues to expand its bespoke laser-cutting service, allowing designers to develop highly customised timber surfaces that integrate multiple species and complex geometric layouts across flooring, wall and joinery applications.