What is Monkeypod ?

Samanea saman or Rain Tree: AKA Monkeypod has a spreading dome-shaped crown. This trees provides a microclimate effect for the plants growing under their canopies. At night and on cloudy days, leaves fold down, allowing rain to fall directly on the ground. In the morning the leaves unfold, giving full shade and helping to preserve moisture.

This fertile land is the ideal grazing ground for fresh ideas and holds space for open collaboration.

Every tree is unique, and so is the story woven around our products. We take care to highlight both its beauty and its flaws. Every line has a purpose and we aim to make those connections.

Our core strength is woodworking. With deep roots in design, we at Monkey Pod offer bespoke solutions as well as off the shelf products. We like to dwell on the thin line between Art and design and always innovating and collaborating with fellow artists and designers to discover new possibilities.

Our team

Yusuf is a woodworker based out of Toronto. He went to design school and has a Masters in Furniture Design. Makes toys, miniatures, sketches and is also a cabinetmaker. You will mostly find him in our woodshop, building jigs and templates and trying out something new. Right now he is busy building his woodstrip canoe.

Yusuf’s inspirations are varied, ranging from the minimalism and austerity of the Shakers, to the complexity of Scandinavian designers. What he draws from each, however, forms a distinct pattern, finding expression in his approach and his work: simplicity, utility, thoughtfulness, and finally, high quality furniture made to last generations.

Ammar is a finance guru, an avid trekker, the gadget guy and the founding member of Monkey Pod Inc. He brings his keen insight into the strategy and marketing aspects of the business.

The wood lab

This is where the fun happens.

Located in central Toronto, our shop is part of a Wood Working Co- operative. We are pretty old school. Love to get a CNC but then there are always a hundred ways to do things. And that is our strength. Its always a new project. New materials. New challenges. New learnings. A few fails. But always striving to find a more elegant solutions.

Our partners

MAS Furniture

In a small town in South India, nestled within the giant Monkeypod trees lies this state of the art wood working facility. Along with generations of knowledge building the entire ecosystem of propagating, planting, harvesting and processing the timber, they have advanced machinery to create wood based products. The entire production unit is 100% solar powered.

MAS Furniture is part of the Vagh group of companies. They have been instrumental in working with local farmers and the Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute (IPIRTI) in propagating over 1 million seedlings of Melia Dubia. Its a fast, drought tolerant and straight growing tree and has many medicinal properties along with being a sustainable resource for the growing industries.