SWEET DESIGN

An article via Rhode Island Monthly about Kevin Cunningham (BArch 05):

Honeycomb is the secret to the next great surfboard.

It’s never made sense that surfboards, used in a sport all about connecting with the environment, are built with earth-unfriendly materials. Which is why Providence architect and surfer Kevin Cunningham wanted to create his own version of the hollow wood surfboard, a board that’s become increasingly popular for its green construction and superior performance. For inspiration, he turned to nature. “Honeycomb is an incredible natural structure — its strength to weight ratio is amazing,” Cunningham says. “I am able to use very thin wood veneers so the boards are lightweight — finished, they’re under ten pounds.” In addition to being long-enduring and biodegradable, wood also makes for a better ride. “Foam doesn’t flex the same way wood does,” he says. “Wood springs back.”

Cunningham shapes his balsa and paulownia wood boards entirely by hand, a process that takes up to thirty hours. His finished boards, often inlaid with abalone shell, are so beautiful (he’s a RISD grad, after all) that they’ve been displayed in local galleries and earned him a design fellowship from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts last year. Still, any good surfer keeps his humility. “Whenever I finish shaping a board, I take it down to Dave Levy at LSD Surfboards in Narragansett,” he says. “He tells me how I can make it better and if it looks okay.”

We know nothing about making surfboards, but the clean lines, sleek wood inlays and artful abalone designs? Yeah, it looks okay. See Cunningham’s work and find more info at spiraresurfboards.com