Calgarians who built credenza of upcycled skateboards chosen by Drew Barrymore to win Etsy design award

AdrianMartinus, a Calgary workshop that crafts home decor and jewelry out of recycled skateboards, has won a global design award.

Adrian Pool, Martinus Pool, and Anne Tranholm won the $15,000 US grand prize at the second annual Etsy Design Awards for their upcycled credenza.

The winners were selected by two judges: actress Drew Barrymore and Etsy's trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson.

"This piece is so beautiful and at first glance, you would never know that it's actually made out of recycled skateboards — how cool is that?" Barrymore said in a release. 

The Pool brothers grew up around Red Deer, and began combining their love of skateboarding and experience working in carpentry in 2012, Martinus told CBC.

They were frustrated by waste encountered on construction sites, and began working with local skate shops to put broken boards to use.

The Pools' dad was retiring, so they started out using his hobbyist woodworking equipment in their parents' garage. 

The brothers later brought on Tranholm, Adrian's wife, who designs their jewelry pieces and runs the Etsy store — tucking handwritten thank you notes into each order. 

Martinus said it took a while for him and his brother to refine their process.

"The first table we built took 130 boards, so that was the biggest learning we made of, 'oh, that's not a sustainable way to do this,'" he said.

Now, they utilize pieces of the boards for products like artwork, earrings, cribbage boards, or even a custom oyster bar for a local chef.

The mid-century modern style credenza, which sells for $5,500 Cdn, is made of 10 skateboards. 

For each piece, they scrape off the grip tape, before sanding off the paint, graphic, clear coat, and grinding and polishing to get the skateboard back to bare wood. 

Martinus said business was good before the awards were announced, and it's only gotten busier.

"We were already booked up to Christmas with other commissions, and now we're booked up until March," he said.

They have new products in the works, like a desk they hope to sell in the near future.

"It's sort of figuring out the balance between building orders and trying out new stuff."