The Wood Awards 2013 demonstrate timber is in the "progressive mainstream", according to RIBA Journal editor Hugh Pearman.
Speaking at the Wood Awards ceremony at Carpenters’ Hall on November 19, Mr Pearman said there was no need to make the case for wood in architecture any more, given timber’s proven durability, technological advances, aesthetic possibilities and its environmental credentials.
Sean Sutcliffe, chair of the furniture judges, said there was also a resurgence of wood in furniture making. "Wood hasn’t been a prime choice but now sustainability requirements and the ability to manipulate wood through CNC are changing things," he said.
Judges’ chairman Michael Morrison said it had been another "cracking good year" for the Wood Awards and noted the high level of craftsmanship and attention in all the entries.
In a unanimous decision by the judges, this year’s Gold Award went to Structural category winner, Bishop Edward King Chapel, which features an internal frame of soaring glulam columns. The judges said this "modern interpretation of a Gothic structure" provided a serene space and its elegant structure made it a worthy winner.
The University of Kent’s timber-rich concert hall, the Colyer-Fergusson Building, won the Commercial & Public Access category. After performing the first concert in the venue, the leader of the Brodsky Quartet described the building as a first class hall and said being on stage was "close to perfect".
Blackpool’s cross-laminated timber Festival House was highly commended.
The Private category went to Church Walk in Hackney, a four-home project which the judges said was an "ingenious, intelligent urban solution". Trewarren, a Pembrokeshire house featuring iroko and Canadian western red cedar, was higly commended.
The refurbishment of Magheralin Parish Church, Northern Ireland, which included the addition of American white oak panels, won the award for Repair & Adaptive Reuse. "It’s astonishing what intelligent design has done for insulating and transforming the building," said the judges.
Atmos Studios’ Roominaroom – "an intriguing example of contemporary living" – won the Small Project category, and the crosslaminated timber Alex Monroe Studio, London, was highly commended.
In the furniture categories, EJ Bespoke Furniture’s 12-drawer Ripples cabinet won the Bespoke Furniture award, and the Theo Chair, a lightweight, stackable chair, won Productionmade Furniture. Otter Surfboards was highly commended in the latter category.
The Judges’ Special Award, made at the judges’ discretion, was given to Atmos Studios’ Worldscape, an 80-seater table and integral benches representing a map of the world. The structure, which was displayed at this year’s Timber Expo, is made from melamine-faced plywood.
GoldAward & Structural
Bishop Edward King Chapel, Oxford
Architect: Niall McLaughlin Architects
Joinery: D Smith Joinery
Wood supplier: Cowley Timberwork
Species: European oak; American ash; spruce glulam
Commercial & Public Access
The Colyer-Fergusson Building, Canterbury
Architect: Tim Ronalds Architects
Species: Canadian Douglas fir; Romanian engineered oak flooring
Highly commended: Festival House, Blackpool
Architect: dRMM Architects
Species: cross-laminated timber, spruce, fir
Repair & Adaptive Reuse
Magheralin Parish Church, Northern Ireland
Architect: Waddington-McClure Architects
Joinery: Timbermark
Species: American white oak
Production-made Furniture
Theo Chair
Designer: Pengelly Design
Species: Hungarian oak and beech
Bespoke furniture
Ripples
Designer: EJ Bespoke Furniture
Species: ash; American black walnut; cedar of Lebanon
Judges’ Special Award
Worldscape
Designer: Atmos Studio
Species: Latvian birch plywood
Private
Church Walk, London
Architect: David Mikhail Architects
Species: Siberian larch; Douglas fir
Highly commended: Trewarren
Architect: John Pardey Architects
Species: iroko, Canadian western red cedar
Small Project
RoominaRoom
Architect: Atmos Studio
Species: Latvian birch plywood; oak staved kitchen worktops; American black walnut
Highly commended: Alex Moore Studio, London
Architect: DSDHA
Species: spruce cross-laminated timber
