The Wood Awards presented its customary smörgåsbord of stunning projects showcasing excellence in timber design and manufacture towards the end of last year.
The top honour in 2021 went to Magdalene College Library, which won the Gold Award and the Education & Public Sector category.
Described by judge Jim Greaves, of Hopkins Architects as “a tour de force of architectural design and achievement”, the library is the first substantial addition to the main college in more than 50 years.
The new library is an arrangement of simple brick volumes with timber windows and pitched roofs that echo the gabled architecture of the college. The interior spaces are created by a glulam and CLT structure, supported on load bearing brickwork and populated with oak shelves and tables. The roof is a grid of timber lanterns with glazed gables separated by wide internal gutters.
Designed by Niall McLaughlin Architects, the CLT structure was courtesy of Eurban, while the glulam structure was down to Neue Holzbau. The wood supplier was James Latham and joinery was by Wedd Joinery, Piper Joinery and Trojanwood Joinery.
The species used were spruce (from Switzerland and Austria) and oak (from Switzerland, Italy and Croatia).
UK Douglas fir, Siberian larch and Spanish poplar plywood were the materials of choice for The Alice Hawthorn, which won the Commercial & Leisure category.
This community-led project saw the addition of 12 guest bedrooms – eight of which are entirely of timber frame construction – to a village pub in Nun Monkton, North Yorkshire.
The design, by De Matos Ryan architects, reflects the rural environment, with the Douglas fir framed buildings using authentic agricultural building materials, including a single layer of tight-grained larch cladding, used externally. Internally there is a sarking layer of fireshield poplar ply.
The wood supplier was East Brothers and the joinery was by Timber Workshop. The cladding and windows were by Lea & Micklethwait.
The winner of the Interiors category was St John Street, a large Victorian apartment in London.
The apartment opens directly into the library space, a rectangular room lined entirely in solid oak joinery. Oak chevron parquet features in the living and sleeping spaces and sliding oak pocket doors enable doorways to be fully opened, creating lateral views from one end of the apartment to the other.
The design was by Emile Eve Architects and the joinery was by Harbour Joinery Workshop. Species used were European oak, Latvian birch plywood and Accoya.
Meanwhile, the winner of the Private category was The Boathouse, designed by Adam Collingwood Architects.
This private family home features Douglas fir, yellow cedar and Canadian Sitka spruce sourced by the owner’s own import company, Stones Marine Timber.
Yellow cedar tiles and cladding adorn the roof and exterior, while the upstairs floor is made from Douglas fir.
The joinery was by Rozen Furniture.
The Small Project winner was Built: East Pavilion, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which made good use of the Belfast truss.
Originally designed to make use of waste ship building timber, the Belfast truss also inspired the team to make careful use of resources. The pavilion is an assembly of three elements, each crafted in a local factory.
Accoya was used in the project, the timber distributor was International Timber and the joinery and wood supply was from BPJ Group. OGU Architects and Donald McCrory Architects were responsible for the design.
The Welcome Building RHS Garden Bridgewater was chosen as the winner of the Structural Award.
The Welcome Building is predominantly one open space that acts as a gateway to the gardens but also contains a visitor meeting and interaction point, restaurant, gift shop, offices, and educational spaces. All public elements are contained under a single overarching glulam timber diagrid, supported on structural glulam trees. Larch forms external cladding.
The species used were Siberian larch and German and Austrian spruce supplied by Prowood, Stora Enso and Russwood. The joinery was by Reds Joinery, while the roof manufacturer and installer was HESS Timber. The architect was Hodder & Partners.
The furniture element of the Wood Awards is split into Bespoke and Production categories.
The Bespoke winner was Gayles Farm 5 – a room divider created by designer/ manufacturer Wycliffe Stutchbury.
The piece is made up of thousands of small oak tiles glued to an open weave cotton twill, creating a curtain which is hung on a hinged, three panelled oak frame with hemp rope and cleats.
Iso-Lounge Chair was selected as the 2021 Production winner. The plywood chair was designed by Jasper Morrison and manufactured by Isokon Plus. Russian silver birch and German beech and oak were supplied by Capital Crispin Veneers.
