The Wood Awards has today announced the 2022 shortlist, revealing a stunning, innovative array of British architecture and product design using wood, all now in the running to receive the highest architecture and design accolade of the UK timber industry.
From more than 200 projects entered, a shortlist of 32 entries has been created which unveils the diverse, creative, and high-quality buildings and furniture being made using the world’s only truly sustainable and renewable material – wood.
Included in the list are some of UK’s leading architects, engineers, product designers and furniture makers, showcasing some of the exciting talent arising from the UK’s domestic timber industry and the wood suppliers who support them.
The Awards are split into two main categories, Furniture & Product and Buildings. Buildings are split by: Commercial & Leisure, Education & Public, Interior, Private and Small Project. Within Furniture & Product, there are three subcategories: Bespoke, Production Made and Student Designer.
Shortlisted projects from the Furniture and Product category are:
- Alder Hey Foraging Collection, Liverpool (H Miller Bros). A cleverly crafted set of foraging tools and a mobile foraging larder aims to playfully inspire the children and medical practitioners at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
- Wave Bench, Liverpool (Chris Miller Design). Inspired by a love of pattern and a desire to use waste materials, this bench demonstrates we can make beautifully crafted, visually exciting, and functional furniture within a zero-waste philosophy.
- Fenland Black Oak CIO, Ely (Mauro Dell’Orco). Following the discovery of an extraordinary piece of Bog Oak, 13 metre long, 5000-year-old planks were cut and crafted into a table that connects ancient forests and local community.
- Furniture For 2 Bessborough Street, London, (Mentsen). Designed for a Grade II listed office building, this collection; a sofa, coffee table, armchair, and side table; echo the geometry and solidity of the surrounding space.
- Migo, Kintbury (Pascal Hien). Conceived during the pandemic, a time of change, uncertainty, and rapid adaption, this furniture piece is designed with no definitive front or back, or right or wrong approach to using it.
- RoundOak Chairs, Newhaven (Fowler & Co). Inspired by the idea of a lightweight flexible chair structure that is expressive. chairs are solid, strong, and inviting, where the comfort of a chair is paramount along with simple beauty.
- IO Collection, (Lars Beller Fjetland). Expressive and friendly in form and character, the IO table recognises that meaningful relationships between objects and their users prolong a product’s lifespan.
- Reprise Chair, Princes Risborough, (Norm Architects). Using traditional woodturning and steam-bending techniques and reflecting a classic design from the ‘50’s, this stunning piece was created in partnership with the client.
- Pebble Table, Mark Thomas, (City and Guilds University). Inspired by the distinctive natural contours of pebbles found on the beaches in St Leonards, East Sussex, this piece appears as if sculpted from one solid piece of wood.
- Oak Desk with Upstand, Holly Timmis, (Building Crafts College). Designed with personal use in mind to create a piece that felt unique, while allowing the designer to explore new technical challenges and their design preferences.
- Veneer Stool, Henry Johnson (Nottingham Trent University). While veneers are commonly used to imitate a more expensive and solid piece of wood, in this design the material has been embraced, displayed, and celebrated.
- Chord Chair, Sam Whyman (Waters and Acland Furniture School). Combining Danish mid-century design with contemporary influence to create a chair which enjoys woven lumbar support, while offering firm but gentle support to the lower back.
Corinne Julius, Head of the Furniture and Products Judge says:
“The Wood Awards is an opportunity to showcase some of the most exciting designers, craftspeople and makers in the UK; both up and comers as well as those already established.
“Each of the entries shortlisted this year show how timber can interacts with good design and craftsmanship to create beautiful objects which help shape and enhance our lives.
“We are really excited to showcase these furniture pieces at Material Matters, during London Design Festival, and help more people to connect with wood and with our leading designers.
“With the reintroduction of the student category into our 2022 shortlist, it will be an absolute pleasure to offer our inspiring young designers a platform to display their work.”
Shortlisted projects from the Buildings category are:
- Sport’s Pavilion, Master’s Field, Balliol College, London, (Niall McLaughlin Architects). By placing student welfare at its heart, this pavilion aims to build connections between students and cater for a wide range of activities with its lightweight, highly bespoke timber structure.
- March House, Cookham, (Knox Bhavan Architects). This carefully designed timber house situated on the bank of the Thames offers a beautiful, flood resistant, and energy-efficient home to serve the client’s current and future needs.
- Buggy Store at The Farmyard at The Newt, Bruton, (Richard Parr Associates). Inspired by the form of a horseshoe, this project takes advantage of the properties of different wood species to create a sustainable and practical area for guests to park bikes and buggies.
- The Abba Arena, London, (Stufish). Wood is helping to take visitors on a ‘Voyage’ at this arean, where it has been deployed to create the world’s largest demountable, sustainable concert venue, including a timber auditorium, rainscreen, and timber front of house.
- Equal Access Project – Inner Portico, London, (Caroe Architecture). The functionality and beauty of St Paul’s Cathedral is enhanced with this carefully executed timber entrance which helps to ensure this world famous icon is a place for all, regardless of faith or mobility needs.
- Mews House, London, (Russell Jones Limited). Acting as a relaxed and informal refuge from the world, this sustainable, beautiful urban oasis employs timber as the primary material, both in its structure and its finish, to imbue this home with a natural warmth.
- The Studio, Aldeburgh, (Sanei Hopkins Architects Ltd). Wood is celebrated here with a pure timber structure, facade framing, timber linings, timber flooring, and fire treated Larch cladding, showing that we can build economic, simple, clear, rigorous, and sustainable.
- Wintringham Primary Academy, Cambridgeshire, (dRMM). Embracing nature in both design and materials, this academy provides a learning environment that inspires and prioritises wellbeing and sustainability, as well as creating fluid, multi-use spaces.
- Greyfriars Charteris Centre, Edinburgh, (Konishi Gaffney Architects). This elegant timber refurbishment and extension of a former church has allowed for the addition of a flexible workspace, a community hub, events space, and a non-denominational sanctuary.
- Green House, London, (Hayhurst and Co). Employing a cross-laminated timber superstructure, this low-carbon, sustainable family home sets out to be practical and flexible, as well as joyful, playful, full of colour and life.
- Homerton College Dining Hall, Cambridge, (Feilden Fowles). Elegant and impressive, this dining hall celebrates the integrity and inherent beauty of its materials and craftsmanship to create a space which is both aesthetic and functional for students.
- The Gramophone Works, London, (Studio RHE). This landmark low-carbon urban project refurbishes and extends an existing canal side building by using mass timber to take it from two to six storeys, adding 60,000 square feet of office space.
- Clifford’s Tower, York, (Hugh Broughton Architects). Giving rise to soaring timber columns in a structure which grants the public full access to the monument, this addition to the tower provides a striking contrast to the stonework and lends protection from the elements.
- The Chapel Roof at Radley College, Abingdon, (Purcell). Intricate design, geometry and craftsmanship make this handcrafted oak octagonal roof structure, created from 1100 sections and more than 300 joints, both memorable and eye-catching.
- Douglas Fir House, London, (Christian Brailey Architects). Conceived as a single piece of cabinetry and crafted out of a single material – Canadian Douglas Fir – this ambitious extension was craned onto site before being nestled into this lush garden space.
- The Barn at Lacton Farm House, Willesborough, (RJP Architects). This Grade II listed building, whose origin dates back to the 1700s, has been carefully, and tastefully, repaired using a minimalist approach and a reliance on traditional skills.
- Brent Cross Pavilion, London, (Moxon). This beautiful new facility embraces larch and spruce both in its structure and interior to provide a warm and welcoming gateway which stands as herald to an exciting new 180-acre development.
- Old Four Row, Lincoln, (Daykin Marshall Studio). A ‘21st century mini medieval timber hall’, this Oak frame extension to a listed building in a quiet Lincolnshire village manages to perfectly complement the stone gables of the original 1860s design.
- UK Hardwoods Storage Building, South Molton, (Buckland Timber). Using timber from the client’s own land which had been earmarked for felling due to larch disease, this truly local collaboration set out to build the largest UK-grown glulam structure ever made.
- Water Tower, Castle Acre, (Tonkin Liu). After being saved from the scrapyard by its owners, the conversion of this tower using timber into a private home meaning it can remain standing proudly above the barley fields, overlooking its beloved village.
Jim Greaves, Head of the Building Judges says:
“The Wood Awards are the highest accolade of the UK timber industry, and each year we see the quality continually improving. This year’s shortlisted projects demonstrate that the UK has some of the most exciting timber talent in the world.
“The shortlisted schemes comprise a wide range of building types that have been selected from a longlist of 128 entries. Not surprisingly each scheme has been chosen because of the excellent quality of their individual design and construction.
“In a world seeking answers to the climate crisis, wood stands out as a material for our built environment because of its low carbon, biophilic and regenerative potential.
“All shortlisted schemes will be exhibited at the upcoming Wood Awards exhibition at the Material Matters fair being held as a part of the London Design Festival this month, as well as at the Building Centre from October through to December.”
The Wood Awards shortlist will be on display at three locations over the next four months this year to including from 22 – 25 September at Gallery@Oxo in partnership with the Material Matters Exhibition during London Design Festival.
During late October until December a special exhibition at the Building Centre which showcases the building shortlist with building models and a series of talks. The winner of the Wood Awards will be announced on 23 November during a Winners’ Ceremony at Carpenter’s Hall.
You can find out more information about the shortlist at (www.woodawards2022.online). Previous winners of the Wood Awards can be found at www.woodawards.com.