In one way the Wood Awards are becoming predictable. Each year they top the number of entries they had the year before. And this year, predictably enough, they’ve hit another record, an impressive total of 206.
But one thing you can’t predict about this event recognising use of timber and joinery in construction and building interiors is what the entries are going to be like. Not only do they multiply each year, they become more varied, highlighting the fact that timber is not only being used in an ever broader range of buildings, but also that architects and designers are becoming bolder in their use.
Among the many eye-catchers this year is Alison Brooks Architects’ The Salt House at St Lawrence Bay, Essex. A modern interpretation of a 19th century fisherman’s cottage, the bow-fronted building is clad in extra-durable ipe to withstand the ravages of the North Sea, with oak used throughout the interior. From the cutting edge of modern timber construction methods is Great Bow Yard in Langport, a 12-property development built using a timber cassette structure with larch and western red cedar cladding. And an unusual totally home-grown entry is Kent County Council’s Shorne Wood Visitor Centre, based on a sweet chestnut glulam frame and clad in the same species, all sourced from local woodlands.
“Yet again we’ve had some fine entries that, sadly, did not even make it through to the shortlist,” said Wood Awards organiser Michael Buckley. “It’s a testament to the fine work in wood which is out there.”
Adding even greater diversity to the Wood Awards this year is the fact that they include a furniture category for the first time. The move has proved a hit, attracting 70 entries ranging from a whole American black walnut furniture “complex” made by Swift Horsman for the Virgin Atlantic lounge at Heathrow, to a European and bog oak “marriage chest” from Whitmore’s Timber for the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Chairman of the Awards judges Giles Downes welcomed the launch of the new category: “The link between architecture and well-designed, well-made furniture has now been closed by the Wood Awards,” he said.
Pictured here are just a few of the entries from the Awards’ Commercial and Public Access, Private, Structural, Conservation and Restoration, and Furniture categories. Which, if any of them, have made the shortlist will be revealed at the 100% Detail exhibition at Earls Court on September 21. The winners will then be unveiled at the Wood Awards presentation at Carpenters’ Hall in London on October 18.
Sponsors of the Wood Awards 2006 include The American Hardwood Export Council, Carpenters’ Company, Forestry Commission, Wood for Good, British Woodworking Federation, ConFor, English Heritage, the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers, Ghana Forestry Commission, Malaysian Timber Council, TRADA, Woodworking Machinery Suppliers’ Association and Finnforest Merk. The Awards are supported by the American Forest & Paper Association, BRE, Cadw, Canada Wood, Historic Scotland, Institute of Carpenters, Institute of Wood Science, Timber Trades Journal, Timber Trade Federation and UK Forest Products Association.
