A museum, a pier and a spiral staircase are among the 20 structures shortlisted for the Buildings categories of the Wood Awards 2017.
Established in 1971, the Wood Awards aim to recognise, encourage and promote outstanding design, craftsmanship and installation using wood.
The judging panel, led by architect Michael Morrison of Purcell, visited all the projects as part of the shortlisting process.
The awards are split into two main categories: buildings and furniture & product. Within the buildings competition there are five subcategories: commercial & leisure, education & public sector, interiors, private and small project.
The shortlisted projects for commercial & leisure and interiors are as follows:
Commercial & Leisure
Command of the Oceans
Location: Historic Dockyard Chatham
Architect: Baynes and Mitchell Architects
Client/Owner: Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust
Structural Engineer: Price & Myers
M&E Engineers: Skelly & Couch
Experiential Design: Land Design Studio
Project Management: Artelia UK
Main Contractor/Builder: WW Martin
Joinery Company & Wood Supplier: Egoin
Wood Species: German Whitewood Spruce
In 1995, the timbers of an unknown ship were discovered beneath the Historic Dockyard Chatham and became the focal point for a project to preserve and interpret the dockyard’s history. The scheduled monuments have been renovated and adapted for gallery, catering and retail spaces. A new visitor entrance building, knitted between the existing buildings connects hospitality areas with exhibition spaces and an under-croft gallery to view the timbers. The primary structure of elegant glu-laminated timber columns and trusses complements the heavy oak structures of the surrounding listed buildings.
The Gateway Buildings, Weald & Downland Living Museum
Location: Chichester
Architect: ABIR Architects
Client/Owner: Weald & Downland Living Museum
Structural Engineer: Cooper & Withycombe
Main Contractor/Builder: A&F Pilbeam Construction Ltd
Joinery Company: The Green Oak Carpentry Company Ltd
Wood Supplier: LBSA (Green Oak), KLH (CLT)
Steelwork: Solent Engineering
Wood Species: French Green Oak, Austrian Spruce, French Sweet Chestnut, English Chestnut
Weald & Downland Living Museum boasts a collection of over 50 vernacular buildings spanning 950 years, all rescued from destruction and re-erected in the Grade II* registered South Downs National Park. ABIR architects were commissioned to design a new 850sqm visitor centre consisting of retail, gallery, café and community spaces. The design connects the museum to two new clusters of buildings set either side of a central entrance court forming a transitional gateway. The buildings are designed to be entirely timber, consisting of two primary elements; Green Oak frame and cross laminated timber (CLT). Other timber features include hand-cleft English chestnut roofing shakes, sweet chestnut cladding and natural wood-fibre insulation. Internally, sweet chestnut battens have been used to create the undulating kite roof.
Hastings Pier
Location: Hastings
Architect: dRMM
Client/Owner: Hastings Pier Charity
Structural Engineer: Ramboll UK
Main Contractor/Builder: Hastings Pier Charity
CLT Manufacturer: KLH
Joinery Company: Timber Craft UK
Wood Supplier: Timber Craft UK, KLH
Wood Species: Austrian Spruce, Salvaged Pier Decking (Jarrah, Purple Heart, Green Heart and Balau), African Ekki)
The 2010 destruction of Hasting’s Pier by fire led to an opportunity of redefining what a 21st Century pier could be. A new visitor centre – a CLT structure clad in salvaged pier decking – replaces the weakest central section of the damaged pier. Reclaimed timber deck furniture was designed by dRMM and Hastings & Bexhill Wood Recycling as part of a local employment initiative. The experience of free space and ‘walking on water’ is heightened by a louvered balustrade design and quality timber deck.
Rievaulx Abbey Visitor Centre & Museum
Location: Helmsley
Architect: Simpson & Brown
Client/Owner: English Heritage
Structural Engineer: Dosser Group
Main Contractor/Builder: Simpson (York) Ltd
M&E: SDS Engineering Consultants
Quantity Surveyor: RNJ Partnership
Joinery Company/Wood Supplier: Cowley Timber & Partners
Wood Species: Scandinavian Spruce
The aim of the project was to upgrade the museum building to meet modern curatorial standards, encourage visitors into the ruins, and improve facilities. A glulam spruce central hall has been inserted into the existing L-shaped timber visitor centre. Visually the new structural frame echoes the existing columns and arches of the abbey ruins. The frames are connected by CLT sheeting at roof level and a perimeter edge beam containing concealed lighting and services. These panels are exposed where possible and stained to match the mainframe. The slot windows formed within the vertical CLT panels echo the local timber agricultural buildings. Off-site fabrication solved the problems of a restricted site and tight programme over winter.
Interiors
1 New Burlington Place
Location: London
Architect: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Client/Owner: The Crown Estate
Structural Engineer: Waterman Group
Main Contractor/Builder: Mace Group
JoineryCompany: Brown & Carroll (London) Ltd
M&E Engineer: Watkins Payne Partnership
Development Manager: Exemplar Properties
Wood Supplier: Dinesen
Wood Species: European White Oak
A pair of Grade II listed Georgian townhouses are drawn into the new plan for 1 New Burlington Place, one transformed and incorporated into the adjacent retail unit and the other returned to a family home. The scheme comprises 79,000 square feet of office space over six floors, 33,000 square feet of retail space over three floors, as well as an enhanced public realm and an internal courtyard. Wood is the predominant material in the reception and office areas. European White Oak has been extensively used for fluted and bevelled edged wall panelling in the entrance lobby as well as for the stair and bridge leading to the first-floor offices.
House in Devon
Location: Dartmouth
Architect: 6a architects
Structural Engineer: Price & Myers
Main Contractor/Builder: JE Stacey
Joinery Company: Touchwood
Joinery Wood Supplier: Traditional Oak and Timber Co.
Wood Species: French Oak, British Douglas Fir, British Pine
This early-twentieth century family home has been transformed by stripping it back to its stone walls. Originally raised on a plinth above a basement, the ground floor has been lowered to the level of the ground and the internal spaces have been completely reconfigured. A series of oak beams make up the exposed primary structure. Three floors on the north end of the house connect to two floors on the south. Tapered oak verticals are used as supports throughout, including primary drawing room columns, external veranda posts and the stair spindles.
Nautilus
Location: London
Architect: Hassan Nourbakhsh (Borheh)
Client: Janey de Nordwall
Structural Engineer: Blue Engineering
Joinery Company/Wood Supplier: Aldworth James & Bond
Photography: Adam Brown
Wood Species: European Birch
Nautilus is a spiral staircase developed as a dynamic design statement for a residential refurbishment. The minimalist hollow stair is formed from 180 unique pieces of ply, CNC cut and assembled on site with no visible connections. Hidden within the stringer and core are over 300 oak dowels specified to keep the layers of ply from de-laminating under tensile loads. Each tread is made up from 10 layers of 18mm thick plywood, assembled onsite, utilising the hollow nature of the stair to clamp and bolt the treads whilst the glue dried. Each step has been finished with a plywood insert designed to be removable and replaceable in case the client ever wanted a different finish.
Oak Lined House
Location: London
Architect: Knox Bhavan Architects LLP
Structural Engineer: Price & Myers
Main Contractor/Builder: Aakash Builders Limited
JoineryCompany: TinTab, Five Furniture, Ian Dunn Woodwork & Design
Wood Supplier: Mundy Veneer Limited, Wenban-Smith Ltd
Wood Species: European Oak, European Birch
This Victorian terraced house was reconfigured to transform it into a light and airy home. All internal and rear external walls were removed at lower ground floor level to create open plan spaces that spill out into the garden. Oak veneered joinery lines the walls to conceal structural supports and building services, whilst maximising functionality and storage. The cantilevered solid oak treads of the new staircase appear to balance on the joinery below. Flip-down dressing tables and desks, and wardrobe pocket doors concealing AV equipment, were designed for upstairs. At raised ground floor level, veneered oak joinery ‘floats’ off the floor on either side of a large glass fire screen providing hallway storage and bookshelves. Further up, oak veneered study doors open to become wall linings allowing light to flood through to the staircase.
The shortlist will be showcased at the London Design Fair (Stand B05, Hall T2), Old Truman Brewery, from 21 to 24 September. Winners will be revealed at the annual Wood Awards ceremony at Carpenters’ Hall on 21 November, by ceremony host Johanna Agerman Ross, founder of Disegno magazine and curator of Twentieth Century and Contemporary Furniture and Product Design at the V&A.
PICTURED – HASTINGS PIER
