For centuries, the Forêt de Soignes belonged to princes. From the twelfth century it was the hunting ground of the Dukes of Brabant, later of the Dukes of Burgundy and the Habsburgs, whose court rode out from Brussels beneath its trees.
Les Chasses de Maximilien. Around 1530, Brussels weavers set these hunts in wool, silk and gold. Twelve tapestries, one for each month, after designs by Bernard van Orley, show the court at the chase in the Forêt de Soignes. December, or the sign of Capricorn: the boar hunt (OA 7323). Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photograph: © Musée du Louvre
In the late eighteenth century, under Austrian Habsburg rule, Joachim Zinner, designer of the Parc de Bruxelles, began in 1787 to replant the forest almost entirely with beech, a practice kept until the early twentieth century. Its tall, straight trunks form what Brussels calls its hêtraie cathédrale ; parts of it have been UNESCO World Heritage since 2017.
No tree is felled for its wood. The forest's public stewards decide which must come down: to let the forest diversify, because a tree is ailing, or because a storm has already laid it low. Their choices follow Natura 2000, UNESCO and FSC.
Sonian is a cooperative founded to make the best use of the wood of the Forêt de Soignes. It brings together the partners of the whole chain, from the purchase of standing trees to the finished interior, and coordinates every step between them.
In some parts of the forest the logs are still drawn out by horse, leaving the soil and the young growth unharmed. Sonian chooses to buy its wood from there.
Sonian is partly owned by the craftspeople of its atelier: the hands that shape the wood also hold a share of the maison, for they are its greatest asset. Through impact investment funds and public financing, Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia each hold a stake in its future.