The Finest in Timber Design

The Wood Awards 2021 saw nineteen structures shortlisted as best in class. All those nominated were on public display at The Building Centre in London from 25 October –3 December, as part of the exhibition World of Wood.

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stablished in 1971, the Wood Awards has long been the UK’s premier competition for excellence in wood design and aims to encourage and promote outstanding timber design, craftsmanship and installation. The independent panel of judges visit all the shortlisted projects in person, making this a uniquely rigorous competition. Here is a selection of this year’s projects.

16 CHART STREET THE BOATHOUSE

A former 1930’s furniture warehouse has been redeveloped into a contemporary and adaptable office space that retains almost all the original structural fabric. The existing four-storey building has been extended sideways and upwards using CLT panels and hardwood LVL beams. Conceived as an open studio space, the new third-floor level has been designed to promote collaboration featuring a flexible, column-free space with four rows of 10m long northlight windows. A vertical, lightweight CLT extension has been added to the side of the building which complements the new sawtooth roof structure and creates light-filled space for meetings, alongside a new stair and lift core, and a new covered building entrance. LVL beams support the northlight windows, while CLT panels to carry the sawtooth roof. The result is a considered and didactic expression of the building’s construction with expressed panel joints, exposed lamellas, and undisguised connections, demonstrating the building’s sequencing. Elsewhere in the building, new floor areas have been created using a hybrid of steel and CLT, freeing up the existing structure to create open plan working areas, collaborative neighborhoods, and break out spaces.

Location: London Architect: Ian Chalk Architects Client: CSI Property Investments Structural engineer: Heyne Tillett Steel MEP engineer: Peter Deer & Associates Main contractor: Conomar Building Services Joinery: Pearl Fit-out Wood supplier: B&K Structures Quantity surveyor: Exigere Species: spruce (Norway), beech (Europe) This practical family residence respects the outstanding natural beauty of its surroundings and looks out over the Salcombe Estuary. Natural materials are at the heart of the project. Geometry and materials are expressed in different ways on different floors. Below-ground, the emphasis is on stone and natural curves, from a curved bench and coat rail to curved doors. Above-ground is straight, with timber and deliberately man-made materials used. The owners’ expertise meant that the best quality wood has been used, with timber supplied by his import company, sourced from Canada. Yellow cedar tiles and cladding adorn the roof and exterior, while the upstairs floor is made from Douglas fir. The long, straight grain of the wood has been deliberately exposed on all levels to show off its beauty. The typical house plan has been inverted, with the main living spaces set above the bedrooms. Other interesting design features include the eaves, which were inspired by thatched roofs, and the use of surplus roof copper throughout the project. The large, open plan living space is flooded with light and features a glass and timber balcony above the lower-level entrance door.

Location: Devon Architect: Adams Collingwood Architects Client & main builder: Mr & Mrs T Stone Structural engineer: Paul Carpenter Associates Joinery: Rozen Furniture Wood supplier: Stones Marine Timber Landscape architects: Rathbone Partnership Species: Douglas fir, yellow cedar, Sitka spruce (Canada)

GUILDFORD CREMATORIUM LEYTON HOUSE

A replacement was needed for the existing Guildford Crematorium which had come to the end of its life. The new building and landscape were influenced by its range of visitors and the stages of grief they experience as they move through and use the site. The scheme had to cater to modern grieving practices which incorporate informal and flexible internal arrangements, accommodate a variety of congregation numbers, and demand nondenominational spaces. The building endeavours to soothe a mourner’s grief with uplifting views and pockets of character spaces. Using walled garden typology, masonry walls obscure internal and external spaces to those viewing the building from outside. A concrete band sets a solid and continuous datum above the folding wall. From this, spring two geometric timber volumes clad in zinc, which act as waymarks for visitors and announce the building’s two key uses: chapel and crematory. An exposed, highly engineered glulam timber roof structure offers clean, functional decoration within the chapel, which looks out onto the courtyard, with additional natural light provided by a high-level clerestory window. To provide intimacy, the catafalque and coffin sit under a lower canopy, wrapped in warm vertical oak board cladding. This feature is extended into the chapel lobby, office reception area and external canopies.

Location: London Architect: Ian Chalk Architects Client: CSI Property Investments Structural engineer: Heyne Tillett Steel MEP engineer: Peter Deer & Associates Main contractor: Conomar Building Services Joinery: Pearl Fit-out Wood supplier: B&K Structures Quantity surveyor: Exigere Species: spruce (Norway), beech (Europe) Leyton House sits on a narrow site at the end of a 1960’s terrace straddling two Victorian streets. The potential of the infill site has been maximized to create a space to live and work that suits the client’s current requirements but has the potential to adapt and grow. The project is defined by its elemental nature. Internally, a palette of concrete, brick and timber softens it progresses from public to private space. Exposed timber construction and careful detailing celebrate craftsmanship and limit the need for expensive finishes and linings. The house is composed of a brick plinth at street level with a finely detailed timber frame structure above. Externally, the form is subtlety articulated across the site. Standard C24 timber joists are exposed internally, which modulate light and create shadows. Natural wood fibre panels are set between the exposed joists regulating the atmosphere and creating a soft acoustic. Street facing external windows are screened for privacy. Doors and windows are made from Douglas fir to complement the external larch cladding. Larch board-on-board timberwork at first floor level is finished in white oil, creating a unified composition. A top lit timber staircase allows light to wash throughout the space. Bespoke birch plywood furniture and doors have been designed to complete the first-floor master dressing room.

Location: London Architect: McMahon Architecture Structural engineer: James Frith Ltd Basement construction: Abtech Basements Basement Fit out, Ground Floor & First Floor Construction: Refab Build Ltd Windows & doors: Cambridge Joinery Ltd Wood supplier: Southgate Timber First floor integrated dressing room joinery & doors: Grovecourt Species: Siberian larch, Douglas fir, WBP plywood

MAGDALENE COLLEGE LIBRARY

Magdalene College Library is the first substantial addition to the main college site in over 50 years. Built alongside the Grade I listed Pepys Library, the new library is an arrangement of simple brick volumes with timber windows and pitched roofs that echo the gabled architecture of the college. Interconnecting rooms lined with bookcases, reading desks and galleries are arranged on a tartan grid between linking passageways. Three main reading rooms organise the principal circulation route, from the three-storey entrance hall to a double-height central reading room, up to a long single-height room at the top of the building. The stepping of these spaces in section is followed by the stepping of the plan form, allowing the building to address the differently scaled garden space either side. The interior spaces are created by a glulam and CLT structure, supported on load bearing brickwork and populated with oak shelves and tables. All the key features are perceived as an interwoven set of elements. Roof lights, columns, floor beams, shelves, windows, desks, and balustrades form a coherent warp and weft throughout the space. The roof is a grid of timber lanterns with glazed gables separated by wide internal gutters. The lanterns limit glare and overheating while bringing light into the plan. The roof lanterns are supported by brickwork chimneys that provide fresh air circulation.

Location: Devon Architect: Adams Collingwood Architects Client & main builder: Mr & Mrs T Stone Structural engineer: Paul Carpenter Associates Joinery: Rozen Furniture Wood supplier: Stones Marine Timber Landscape architects: Rathbone Partnership Species: Douglas fir, yellow cedar, Sitka spruce (Canada) 

THE WELCOME BUILDING RHS GARDEN BRIDGEWATER

OTHER BUILDING PROJECTS NOMINATED FOR THE WOOD AWARDS 2021 INCLUDE:

Location: Manchester Architect: Hodder + Partners Client: The Royal Horticultural Society Structural engineer: RoC Consulting Main contractor: BAM Construction Joinery: Reds Joinery Ltd Wood supplier: Prowood Ltd, Stora Enso, Russwood Roof manufacturer/installer: HESS Timber GmbH Services engineer: Hoare Lea Species: Siberian larch (Russia), European spruce (Germany/Austria) Sitting within the new RHS garden on the site of 154-acre Worsley New Hall, 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. The design is a horizontal composition that responds to a commanding horizon defined by the elevated canal and low-lying landscape, creating a linear strike in the landscape. All public elements are contained under a single overarching glulam timber diagrid, supported on structural glulam trees. The roof extends beyond the enclosure to the north and south, blurring the edge between building and landscape, where it turns up and down at its edge, responding to the location of entrances, expressing specific uses, framing views, and forming solar shading. The horizontal form is broken by projecting timber boxes that sit below the main roof line and house prescribed uses such as kitchens, WCs, offices, and classrooms. The timber forms extend east beyond the building with a timber decking floating over a new lake. Externally, the roof is clad in vertical larch while the projecting boxes are clad horizontally. Glazed curtain walling spans between the ground and roof. Natural light permeates through larch louvres, or filters through the diagrid via two rooflights.

SANDS END COMMUNITY AND ARTS CENTRE

The Centre replaces an older facility that stood in the vicinity but had been sold to enable residential development. The new Centre comprises a series of newly built flexible one-storey pavilions clustered around the refurbished Grade-II listed Clancarty Lodge. The pavilions feature a single pitch roof with tall clerestory windows, inspired by glasshouses that stood on the site in the 18th century. Massing has been subtly adjusted to create a slightly irregular, picturesque cluster in keeping with the landscape, and a new, welcoming entrance plaza. The internal spaces can be adapted to different uses and occasions through movable partitions. In the future, the Centre will also contain a nursery and café. On the side of the courtyard, deep eaves ensure effective shading from the sun and protect the inside from glare. Large scale CLT panels and glulam beams, which have been left exposed or stained green, have been used as the primary structural material.

Location: London Architect: Mæ Main contractor: Neilcott Construction Joinery: P.R. Boakes Ltd, Tom Graham Joinery Wood supplier: Egoin Structural engineer: Elliott Wood Partnership Species: whitewood spruce

• The Alice Hawthorn, Nun Monkton, North Yorkshire • Lockerbie Sawmill, Lockerbie, Scotland • David Brownlow Theatre, Newbury, Berkshire • Ibstock Place School Refectory, London • Kantor Centre of Excellence: The Anna Freud Centre & Pears Family

School, London • Built East Pavilion, Belfast, Northern Ireland • Unfolding Pavilion at London Design Biennale 2021 • 1930’s Apartment, London • Concrete Plinth House,London • SNUG Home, Bristol • St John Street, London • Wooden Annex, London. Judges The buildings judging panel is led by Jim Greaves of Hopkins Architects. The panel includes Andrew Lawrence, Arup; Kirsten Haggart, Waugh Thistleton Architects; Nathan Wheatley, engenuiti; David Morley, David Morley Architects; architectural journalist Ruth Slavid and Andy Trotman, Timberwright.

Sponsors As a not-for-profit competition, the Wood Awards can only happen with collaborative industry sponsorship. Major Sponsors are American Hardwood Export Council, Binderholz and Carpenters’ Company. Other Sponsors include American Softwoods, Timber Trade Federation and TRADA.

Let's talk about the wood house effect

Cities are growing, and so are trees. With wood as a construction material, we can bring the forest to the city by building higher, lighter and stronger than ever before. By 2060, global housing needs to double, and emissions need to go down. When using wood as a renewable material that keeps growing back,a truly sustainable future of building is possible. And it all started with a seedling in one of our certified forests. We call this the wood house effect.

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