The call for entries for the Wood Awards 2023 is now live! Enter your wood-centric building, furniture or product before 23 June 2023 and have your work recognised as the best in the UK.
Architects, engineers, installers, furniture makers, product designers – or anyone else with an exceptional timber project – can now enter via the Wood Awards website – free of charge – for a chance to receive a highly coveted Wood Award.
Since 1971, the Wood Awards has been the UK’s premier competition in the timber design and construction industries. By recognising and rewarding outstanding timber design, craftsmanship and installation – and showing the many ways that timber transforms and enriches our lives – the Wood Awards acts as a vehicle to drive positive change in our built environment.
Submissions are split into Buildings and Furniture & Product, with categories including ‘Commercial & Leisure’, ‘Education & Public Sector’, ‘Interiors’, ‘Private’, ‘Small Project’, as well as ‘Bespoke’, ‘Production’, and ‘Student’, respectively.
This covers a wide range of projects, alongside one additional category introduced in 2022: ‘Restoration and Reuse’, which will recognise the ways timber is preserving and enhancing our architectural heritage – and importantly – reducing the embodied carbon of construction.
The prestigious Gold Award is given to the standout project that the judges deem to be the overall winner-of-winners. As well as the Gold Award, other awards that can be given at the judges discretion include the Structural Award and, for the first time, a newly introduced Sustainability Award.
The Wood Awards’ is unique. It is a not-for-profit: purely aiming to recognise excellence. It also features an elite independent judging panel that assesses all submitted entries – and visits each shortlisted project in person. This makes the Wood Awards an exceptionally rigorous competition.
Judging panels are led by Jim Greaves of Hopkins Architects, for Buildings, and design critic, curator and journalist, Corinne Julius, for Furniture & Product.
Jim Greaves, Chair of Buildings judges, said, “This year we have a new ‘Restoration and Re-use category that will recognise the work of designers and constructors who have chosen to restore and adapt existing buildings. We have also asked Neil Smith, of Max Fordham, to assist the judges in this assessment of the environment performance of the entries.
With each year the ambition and breadth of the Wood Awards entries grows, and I would positively encourage everyone involved in an interesting timber project to participate.”
Corinne Julius, Chair of Furniture judges, comments, “The Wood Awards are aimed at encouraging the use and appreciation of wood by the public, industry, makers and students. We hope that the Awards promote a renewed approach of this beautiful, varied, sustainable and renewable material. Wood is the material of the future.”
Homerton College Dining Hall – Gold, Structural and Education & Public Sector winner, 2022.
JUDGES
Buildings panel: Jim Greaves, Hopkins Architects; Andrew Lawrence, Arup; Kirsten Haggart, Waugh Thistleton Architects; Nathan Wheatley, engenuiti; David Morley, David Morley Architects; Ruth Slavid, architecture journalist; Jonas Lencer, dRMM; Andy Trotman, Timberwright; Neil Smith, Max Fordham.
Furniture & Products panel: Corinne Julius, critic, curator and journalist; Oliver Stratford, Disegno; Yael Mer, Raw-Edges; Eleanor Lakelin, sculptor; and Sebastian Cox, furniture designer.
CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
With permission from the owner, anyone associated with a building or product that has been completed in the last two years is able to enter. Buildings must be located within the UK, whilst furniture and other products must have been either designed or manufactured in the UK. Fitted furniture must be in the UK. There are no restrictions on the size or budget of a project. Entrants are welcome to submit more than one project.
All entries must be submitted via www.woodawards.com. Please note that there is no entry fee for submission.
The 2023 shortlist will be announced in September and showcased at a specially commissioned exhibition. The Wood Awards has ambitious plans for an exciting finale to the competition, further details on both will be announced in due course.
Fenland Black Oak – Bespoke Winner, 2022
SPONSORS
As a not-for-profit competition, the Wood Awards can only happen with collaborative industry sponsorship. Major Sponsors of the Wood Awards 2023 include Carpenters Company, American Hardwood Export Council and Timber Development UK.
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