European architects and designers are struggling to source wood for their projects as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought imports from the region to a standstill, threatening stocks and driving up prices across the continent.

Studios are reporting that costs for solid oak and birch plywood have doubled in the last few months, while others have seen the price of structural timber go up by around 20 per cent.

“Everyone is really worried about their supply chains,” said Sean Sutcliffe, co-founder of British furniture maker Benchmark. “We have projects where it would now cost me more to buy the wood that I’m charging for the whole thing.”

Birch plywood is “just not available anymore”, Sutcliffe said. Solid oak is soon to follow suit, according to Signe Bindslev Henriksen of Danish design studio Space Copenhagen.

“It’s almost like gold at the moment,” she told Dezeen. “Everybody is using up all their stock. Suppliers and manufacturers can deliver right now but in just a few months’ time, it’ll be all gone.”

Meredith Bowles of Mole Architects said the shortage has already affected several of the practice’s projects, with timber-frame contractors pulling out or refusing to set material costs in advance as “timber prices are going up daily”.

Half of EU timber imports come from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU and the UK banned the import of wood from Russia as part of a growing package of sanctions against products including steel and cement, which are now rapidly increasing in price.

The EU also applied these sanctions to Russia’s ally Belarus.

Taken together, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine accounted for nearly a quarter of the worldwide lumber trade and 53 per cent of the EU’s timber imports in 2021.

dezeen