Urban Evolutions

What Urban Evolutions does

Urban Evolutions is a privately held, woman-founded manufacturer and material design partner specializing in reclaimed, salvaged, and responsibly harvested wood products for commercial, hospitality, corporate office, and residential projects. Founded in 1997 by Robin and Jeff Janson in Appleton, Wisconsin, the company operates a 200-mile-radius Wisconsin-centric supply chain that integrates building deconstruction services, urban tree salvage, and traditional reclaimed wood sourcing with manufacturing of flooring, veneer panels, dimensional wall and ceiling systems, cladding, beams, table tops, and exterior products. Its proprietary Live Sawn milling technique produces whole-grain wood with reduced waste and wider boards, while sub-brands such as UE Live Sawn, Evolutions Tabletop, and the Urban Wood Program differentiate the product portfolio on sustainability and traceability grounds. The company holds FSC, Declare Red List Free, Clean Air GOLD, and WBENC certifications, and counts LinkedIn, Microsoft OpenAI, Levi's, Nike, Barnes & Noble, Fiserv Forum, and Anthropologie among its named enterprise customers. The business model is project-based and quote-driven, with revenue generated primarily through direct sales to architects, interior designers, and project managers via a "To The Trade" channel, supplemented by a retail showroom in Appleton for walk-in residential and small commercial customers. Distribution is direct to job sites nationwide, and the company acts as both manufacturer and distributor, supported by strategic partnerships with Great Lakes Veneer, Cambium Carbon, Menominee Tribal Enterprises, Populous, and the Climate Smart Wood Group.

Name

Urban Evolutions

Legal name

Urban Evolutions

Website

https://urbanevolutions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Urban Evolutions is a woman-founded, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of reclaimed and sustainably sourced wood products, serving architects, designers, and enterprise customers in retail, hospitality, corporate office, and residential markets with flooring, wall panels, cladding, beams, and table tops.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Reclaimed Wood Building Materials

NAICS

Custom Architectural Woodwork and Millwork Manufacturing (337212), Engineered Wood Member Manufacturing (321215), Wood Product Manufacturing (321)

SIC

Lumber & Wood Products (No Furniture) (2400), Millwood, Veneer, Plywood, & Structural Wood Members (2430)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEUAIAHAJ

Deconstruction & Salvage (Building Material Reuse)

Energy, Utilities & Environment/Environmental Services (Waste Management, Recycling & Remediation)/Construction & Demolition (C&D) Waste Management

SECONDARYIMAMACAI

Engineered Wood Siding, Trim & Mouldings

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Paper & Forest Products/Engineered Wood Products (Plywood, OSB, LVL, CLT)

SECONDARYCRAIANAH

Architectural Salvage & Reclaimed Building Elements Retail (Doors, Windows, Mantels)

Consumer Products & Retail/Home & Furniture Retail/Secondhand, Vintage & Consignment Home Furnishings Retail

SECONDARYHSAPAFAD

Trim, Baseboards, Crown Molding & Finish Carpentry

Home & Personal Services/Residential Renovation Services/Interior Remodeling (Walls, Ceilings, Trim & Layout Changes)

Keywords

• Reclaimed wood products
• Wood flooring manufacturing
• Interior wall cladding
• Sustainable building materials
• Wood veneer panels

Headquarters

HQ city

Appleton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Wood Product Sales: One-time sale of customized reclaimed wood products including flooring, wall panels, cladding, beams, table tops, and veneer panels. Products are sold directly to architects, designers, builders, and end customers for commercial and residential projects. Revenue is project-based with varying order values.
2. Custom Design & Manufacturing Services: Material Design Partner services providing guidance on wood selection, wood reuse, wood finish, and product selections. Custom wood solutions tailored to specific project needs from concept through installation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Urban Evolutions designs, manufactures, and sells a full suite of customized reclaimed, salvaged, and responsibly harvested wood products for commercial and residential projects. Core offerings include solid and engineered wood flooring, veneer panels, dimensional slatted wall and ceiling panels, interior cladding, constructed and solid wood beams, exterior beams and siding, stair treads, conference and amenity table tops, and thermally modified wood. The company also provides deconstruction services as a sustainable alternative to traditional demolition, with all manufacturing and most sourcing conducted within a 100-200 mile radius of Appleton, Wisconsin.

Product overview

Urban Evolutions is a material design partner specializing in reclaimed wood and sustainable materials, offering a full suite of interior, exterior, and structural wood products for commercial and residential projects. The portfolio includes wood flooring (solid and engineered in live sawn, character grade, and reclaimed variants), dimensional wall and ceiling panels (slatted, patterned, and relief designs), veneer panels, interior cladding, wood beams (constructed and solid), exterior products, stair treads, table tops, and thermally modified wood. Key sub-brands include the UE Live Sawn Collection (using whole-grain live sawn milling technique), Traditional Reclaimed Products (salvaged from historical buildings), Urban Wood Program (from salvaged city trees), and Select Harvest (from regenerative forestry partners). The company also provides deconstruction services as an environmentally responsible alternative to demolition. Products are designed for retail, hospitality, office, and residential applications and are sourced from reclaimed, urban salvaged, FSC-certified, and responsibly harvested sources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UE Live Sawn: A collection of sustainably sourced wood products using live sawn milling technique for flooring, wall cladding, table-top and veneer plywood.
• Evolutions Tabletop
• UE Takeback Reuse Program

Products and services

• Wood Flooring Wide plank wood flooring available in solid and engineered formats, featuring live sawn, character grade, reclaimed, and rift & quartered options across species including ash, white oak, walnut, red oak, maple, and elm. Sold to architects, designers, builders, and end customers for commercial and residential projects.
• Veneer Panels Live sawn and companion veneer panels for wall paneling and surfaces, featuring species such as red oak, white oak, walnut, and ash with finishes including matte clear, premium oil, smoke, barley, wheat, and deep brown. Used for commercial and residential wall paneling projects.
• Dimensional Wall & Ceiling Panels Three-dimensional slatted and patterned wood wall panels providing decorative textures and patterns for focal points in commercial and residential designs. Includes slat wall panels (Torus Rounded, V-Rib, Curved, Pass-Through, Solid Wide Fluted), geometric patterns, and relief designs in white oak, walnut, and paint grade.
• Interior Cladding Solid wood wall and ceiling cladding available in live sawn, character grade, and reclaimed options. Features species including white oak, ash, elm, red oak, walnut, pine, and mixed hardwoods with various finishes for commercial and residential interiors.
• Constructed Wood Beams Engineered wood beams constructed from reclaimed hand-hewn timber skins and solid timber couplets, designed for structural and aesthetic applications in residential and commercial interiors.
• Solid Wood Beams Structural and decorative solid wood beams made from reclaimed and responsibly sourced timber for interior applications in residential and commercial projects.
• Exterior Beams & Siding Exterior-grade wood beams and siding products including cedar siding and thermally modified wood for outdoor applications such as decking and exterior cladding.
• Stair Treads Solid wood stair treads available in various species and finishes for residential and commercial applications.
• Evolutions Tabletop / Conference Tables Responsibly harvested wood table tops and conference tables developed in partnership with Cambium Carbon, sourced from Carbon Smart Wood. Features species including ash, cherry, maple, red oak, white oak, thermal oak, and WalNOT with custom stain options for commercial and amenity spaces.
• Commercial Amenities & Surfaces Wood surfaces for commercial amenity areas including table tops for corporate campuses and hospitality settings.
• Thermally Modified Wood Heat-treated wood products that improve durability and stability for exterior applications without chemical treatments, suitable for outdoor use.
• UE Live Sawn Collection A collection of sustainable wood products using the live sawn milling technique that captures full grain patterns across flooring, wall cladding, table-tops and veneer plywood. Features whole-grain aesthetics with less waste and greater board widths.
• Traditional Reclaimed Products Reclaimed wood products salvaged from historical buildings, barns, factories, and equestrian fencing, including white oak, red oak, pine, elm, redwood, and mixed hardwoods with rustic to refined finishes.
• Urban Wood Program Wood products sourced from salvaged city and rural trees removed due to disease, storm damage, hazard mitigation, or development. Features species including ash, oak, and elm diverted from municipal waste streams. Since 2021, the program has saved 912 tons of urban wood from the waste stream.
• Select Harvest Wood sourced from local, regenerative forestry partners practicing responsible forestry. Supports habitat restoration including Oak Savanna ecosystems and partners with operations like Menominee Tribal Enterprises for sustainably managed forest products.
• Deconstruction Services Building deconstruction services that maximize material reuse and recycling, diverting up to 80-90% of materials from the waste stream as an alternative to traditional demolition. Dismantles buildings to preserve historic materials for reintegration into current projects or inventory for future reuse.

Quantifiable outcome

• Diverts up to 80-90% of materials from waste stream through deconstruction services
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Great Lakes VeneercoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2022Worked with Great Lakes Veneer, a 100+ year-old Wisconsin veneer manufacturer, to process urban trees salvaged from Wisconsin municipalities into veneer for the LinkedIn Omaha campus project. Great Lakes Veneer helped overcome challenges of working with variable urban trees to produce 40,000 sf of veneer plywood.
• PopulouscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeamed up with Populous, an architecture firm specializing in sports and entertainment venues, to provide reclaimed patina pine cladding for Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Populous designed the premium areas where Urban Evolutions' materials were installed.
• Cambium CarboncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Cambium Carbon to develop the Evolutions Collection - a line of responsibly harvested wood surfaces sourced exclusively from Carbon Smart Wood. Cambium provides the sourcing network for salvaged and under-utilized trees that become high-performance design materials.
• Menominee Tribal EnterprisescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSources White Oak from Menominee Tribal Enterprises, which has managed one of the world's most sustainable forests since 1865 through sustained yield management and generations of silvicultural research. Urban Evolutions supplied 5,500 sf of red oak paneling from this source for Microsoft OpenAI headquarters.
• Midwest PrairiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners with local producers restoring Oak Savanna ecosystems through responsible thinning practices like 'daylighting the oaks.' These efforts encourage native plant growth, restore habitats for threatened species, and give harvested oaks new life as interiors.
• Climate Smart Wood GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban Evolutions' Select Harvest wood sources align with Climate Smart Wood Group's framework for climate-smart forestry operations, focusing on mitigation (increasing carbon storage), adaptation (maintaining ecological diversity), and equity (improving community well-being).

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Vintage Lumber Co. Reclaimed wood manufacturer and supplier of antique beams, flooring, and paneling sourced from deconstructed buildings. Direct competitor in the architectural reclaimed wood category with similar commercial design customer base.
• Olde Wood Ltd. Custom reclaimed and wide-plank wood flooring manufacturer serving residential, commercial, and hospitality projects. Closely comparable product mix (flooring, paneling, beams) and go-to-market via designers and architects.
• Trestlewood: Supplier of reclaimed lumber, timbers, and specialty wood products salvaged from barns, factories, and other structures. Comparable sourcing model (deconstruction/reclamation) and architectural project customer base.
• Elmwood Reclaimed Timber: Reclaimed timber supplier producing custom flooring, paneling, beams, and tabletops from deconstructed structures. Directly competitive in reclaimed architectural wood with custom manufacturing capabilities.
• Mountain Lumber Company: Reclaimed wood manufacturer producing flooring, paneling, and architectural elements from historical structures. Comparable vertical integration from deconstruction through finished custom products for designers.
• Reclaimé: Reclaimed and sustainable wood supplier offering flooring, paneling, beams, and architectural elements for commercial and residential design. Direct competitor in the designer-specifier reclaimed wood category.

Emerging players

• Cambium Carbon: Urban wood sourcing network that partners with municipalities to redirect removed trees into supply chains. Strategic partner to UE via the Carbon Smart Wood Partnership; partial overlap as a competing upstream urban wood platform.

Broad incumbents

• Accsys Technologies (Accoya): Publicly listed manufacturer of acetylated modified wood products targeting durable exterior and structural applications. Comparable sustainable wood positioning and commercial construction customer base, though different modification technology.
• Kebony: Producer of thermally modified sustainable wood for exterior cladding, decking, and architectural applications. Comparable sustainability narrative and architectural project customer base; broader scale and global footprint.

Others

• Build Reuse: National nonprofit supporting building deconstruction, salvaged material reuse, and related policy. Adjacent ecosystem enabler — UE develops EPDs through Build Reuse — but not a product competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/963984
• Instagraminstagram.com/urbanevolutions
• Xx.com/urbanevolutions
• Facebookfacebook.com/urbanretailoutletappleton

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urban Evolutions