The breadth and quality of submissions to this year’s Wood Awards reflect a dynamic and evolving landscape of design in the UK – one where wood is not only embraced for its sustainability but explored with creativity, intelligence and care. Across the country, designers and makers are engaging deeply with the material’s inherent properties – its grain, weight, strength and tactility – to tell new stories through form, function and craft.
This year, our expert panel of judges reviewed over 120 entries to select a shortlist of 10 outstanding furniture and object projects. These works were showcased at a dedicated exhibition at Material Matters, during the London Design Festival, reaching a wide audience of design and material enthusiasts.
The 2025 shortlist reveals a rich diversity – spanning hardwood and softwood species, rural and urban contexts, and solo and collaborative practices. The use of techniques from CNC machining to steambending, pyrography and hand-carving demonstrates not only technical skill but also a willingness to experiment, question and innovate.
Choosing winners across the categories was no easy task. Each shortlisted project demonstrated exceptional vision and craftsmanship, and I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the entrants, as well as to my fellow judges for their thoughtful deliberations. The awarded projects reflect some of the most prescient themes shaping contemporary timber design and fabrication today.
A Forest Datum impressed the panel with its pioneering use of tree forks in a repeatable construction system – constituting an imaginative approach to structural design with far-reaching potential.
The Production Award went to the Levity Collection – a new family of solid ash chairs that balance production efficiency with moments of thoughtful refinement, marking a confident debut for a young UK furniture company. We also recognised Somer Kitchen at Balbougie Steading for its ambitious, systemic approach to circular design.
In the Student category, Her Captain’s Chair stood out for its research-led design, addressing the underrepresentation of women in design leadership through a beautifully resolved, ash-framed form that considers posture and its psychological impacts.
Finally, in only its second year, the Sculpted Object category drew an extraordinary range of submissions. The two winning pieces – The Growth Project and Red Knot – captivated us with their distinct material expressions and conceptual clarity. Both works pose poignant questions about how we engage with wood: what it is, how it behaves, and what it might become.
Whether creating inventive and repeatable structural systems, rethinking production for a new generation of furniture companies, or exploring the poetic potential of timber as a sculptural medium, these projects signal a bright, responsible and imaginative future for wood in design.
SEBASTIAN COX RDI
CHAIR OF FURNITURE & OBJECTS PANEL
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