Wood Awards reveal 2016 shortlist

Stihl Treetop Walkway in Gloucestershire, surrounding landscape forest of tall trees, blue cloudy sky

The annual Wood Awards are back, featuring a shortlist of 20 building projects and 12 product and furniture pieces utilising the material. Pictured: Stihl Treetop Walkway in Gloucestershire by Glenn Howells, nominated in the 'Commercial and Leisure' category

(Image credit: press)

By Ellie Stathaki

last updated 10 October 2022

in News

We’ve always been partial to outstanding woodwork, championing craftsmanship and design that uses the noble material, spanning both the end result and the creative process behind it. So, when the shortlist arrived for the annual Wood Awards, we couldn’t help but sit up and take notice.

The 2016 awards are, as always, chock full of timber gems, including large (buildings) and smaller (furniture) scales, as well as installations and anything in-between.

The building categories include work in several typologies: commercial and leisure (such as the Stihl Treetop Walkway in Gloucestershire by Glenn Howells Architects), education and public sector (such as the Maggie’s centre at the Robert Parfett building by Foster + Partners), interior (such as the Christ Church Crypt in Spitalfields by Dow Jones Architects) and private house (such as Ansty Plum in Wiltshire by Coppin Dockray). A special section is dedicated to small, but perfectly formed projects, such as the likes of Zeller & Moye’s Hollow installation at the University of Bristol.

Furniture and product are equally well represented; nominees include two bespoke designs (like the 'Log Stack Cabinet' by Byron and Gomez), six production (such as the 'Planks' collection, designed by Max Lamb and made by Benchmark) and four student designs (including the 'Velo Chair' by Jan Waterston).

The 20 buildings and 12 product and furniture pieces that have been shortlisted will now go head-to-head through a rigorous judging process, in a competition seeking to honour excellence in architecture and product design involving the material. The final winners will be announced at the annual Wood Awards ceremony at Carpenters’ Hall in London on 22 November.

Alconbury Weald Club, dusk image, glass three story building lit up, road, winter trees to the keft and right of the building, street light lit, grass verges, buildings in the distance, dusk sky — 'Commercial and Leisure' nominee: Alconbury Weald Club by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

Daytime image of the Sky Health & Fitness Centre, Black rail viewing gallery, wooden framed balcony and pillars, white framed tall windows looking out to the surrounding building, bulb lights hanging down from the ceiling, lower floor windows visible — 'Commercial and Leisure' nominee: Sky Health & Fitness Centre by dRMM

Night time image, building set into a hill, grass verge to the front with a rocky pond, glass fronted, lighting, a few people sat at the table and chairs outside, blurred furniture inside, grass roof with skylights, trees in the backdrop, clear night sky with blurred moon in the distance — 'Commercial and Leisure' nominee: Gloucester Services by Glenn Howells Architects

Daylight image, wooden barn type building, with skylight roof and thin chimney, adjacent building attached with wooden slat front and roof, lights glowing through the openings, small set of stone steps leading up to the entrance door, with handrails, building information sign to the right, gravel driveway, winter trees in the distance, clear pale blue sky — 'Commercial and Leisure' nominee: Welcome Centre by Burd Haward Architects Ltd

Daytime landscape image, grass lawn to the front, large stone building in the distance, forest & tall trees in the backdrop, clear blue sky — 'Education and Public Sector' nominee: Stanbrook Abbey by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Daytime view of St Clare's, Oxford, centre lawn, stone pathway around the edge, wooden buildings with windows set around the lawn area, trees and shrubs, blue sky with a few light clouds — 'Education and Public Sector' nominee: St Clare's, Oxford by Hodder+Partners

Daytime image of Harmondsworth Barn, red brick roof, metal gate at the left, long patchy grass area to the front, close up of a tree branch dominating the shot, additional builidng to the right in the distance, blue cloudy sky — 'Education and Public Sector' nominee: conservation and repair of Harmondsworth Barn by Ptolemy Dean Architects

Maggie’s centre at the Robert Parfett by Foster, daytime iimage, glass design front and pavilion style sides to the builidng, soil and shrubs to the front, scarce trees and builidngs in the distance, cloudy blue sky — 'Education and Public Sector' nominee: Maggie’s centre at the Robert Parfett by Foster + Partners

Mellor Primary School, daytime image, wooden barn style building, grey framed entrance door and windows, wooden framed handrail leading down to the ground level, one half of the building has wooden log design in sections and bird houses attached, wooden floor/platform to the balcony, black drain pipe, trees to the right hand side, gravel path, wire fence front to the lower level, cloudy blue sky — 'Education and Public Sector' nominee: Mellor Primary School by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects

Woodpeckers by Ström Architects, grass lawn, plants and shrubs, wooden two story building, with windows and white tower section at the right handside, trees to the left and right, clear blue sky — 'Private' nominee: Woodpeckers by Ström Architects

Contour House, swimming pool in the centre, stone walkway around the pool, brick wall along the left and glass windows along the right, wooden slat design ceiling with metal suuport frame, spot lights, end wall has wooden slat design with two high wall lights attached , four lounger seating, daytime outside view of the landscape through the windows — 'Private' nominee: Contour House by Sanei Hopkins Architects

Ansty Plum, sloped building, flat roof, lawn, brick wall running along side, narrow windows, lighting and furniture insode, patio area with small stone wall around the front, wooden shed to the right of the building, trees in the distance, cloudy dusk sky — 'Private' nominee: Ansty Plum by Coppin Dockray

’Log Stack Cabinet’, white room, pale colour wood drawer unit with some pulled open, hand reaching out opening a drawer, white crackle effect to the front of the drawers — 'Bespoke' nominee: 'Log Stack Cabinet' by Byron and Gomez

’Pantori’, tall black frame wooden unit with natural wood grain drawers with circle hole pulls, white room — 'Bespoke' nominee: 'Pantori' by Steph Leake, intern at Jack Badger Ltd

Ercol ’Flow Chair’, bespoke design neutral colour wooden chair, white wash wooden floor panels, white wall room with high skirting boards, window to the left with gold fixings letting daylight in to cast shadows — 'Production Made' nominee: Ercol 'Flow Chair' by tna Design

kitchen by deVOL and Sebastian Cox, neutral room, large black frame windows looking on into the garden, neutral gloss flooring, tree planter in the left corner, spiral staircase, stepladders, hanging plants, radiator, black and wooden centre piece worktops, wooden stool with dark apron on, basket on the floor, wooden drawer unit to the left — 'Production Made' nominee: kitchen by deVOL and Sebastian Cox

’Well Proven Stool’ by van Aubel & Shaw, white background, tall wooden stool with bespoke design drift wood effect seat — 'Production Made' nominee: 'Well Proven Stool' by van Aubel & Shaw

’Stretch’ extending dining table by Pengelly Design Ltd, white room, two tables, one black and one natural wood demonstrating the extension mechanism — 'Production Made' nominee: 'Stretch' extending dining table by Pengelly Design Ltd

’Planks’ collection by Max Lamb, natural wood table and seating benches, middle section of table open with white patterned teacups, bowls and small plates inside, six dinner plates stacked on the table top, two wood planks from the inner section placed on the table top, white floor and walls — 'Production Made' nominee: 'Planks' collection by Max Lamb

Velo Chair’ by Jan Waterston, natural wood four leg stool, with bespoke curve design seat, white room — 'Student Designer' nominee: 'Velo Chair' by Jan Waterston

’One-Sheet’ dining chair by Terry Davies, natural wood chair bespoke design, black padded back rest, white room — 'Student Designer' nominee: 'One-Sheet' dining chair by Terry Davies

’Geometry’ by Michael Stevenson, natural wood round table, metal leg & wooden circle design with wooden feet, white room — 'Student Designer' nominee: 'Geometry' by Michael Stevenson

’Milena’ by Juan Junca, natural wood frame, wicker seat and back rest design, white room — 'Student Designer' nominee: 'Milena' by Juan Junca

Christ Church Crypt, Spitalfields, by Dow Jones Architects, stone wall and pillars, large wooden table and benches, arched white ceiling with up lights, wooden counter top with mirror wall section behind, rounded wooden doors, neutral stone floor — 'Interiors' nominee: Christ Church Crypt, Spitalfields, by Dow Jones Architects

The Portledge Rear Staircase by Witcher Crawford Architects and Designers, neutral stone floor, wood design staircase, white walls, floor spotlights, ground floor entrance with window, upper floor hallway, window with daylight coming through — 'Interiors' nominee: The Portledge Rear Staircase by Witcher Crawford Architects and Designers

Tufnell Park Road by TYPE Studio, wooden floor, wooden bookshelf with ornaments and overhanging metal table lamp to the left, wooden table, bench and chairs, potted plants, wooden slat skylight ceiling, three bulbs lights down, hanging, wooden window and door frame with views of the garden and patio area, black wooden frame leading into another part of the room to the right — 'Interiors' nominee: Tufnell Park Road by TYPE Studio

Kingston Ancient Market Place and Stalls by Tonkin Liu, exterior view, stone floor, wooden light posts, tall stone building with arch window and bell towers, adjacent Tudor style buildings, visitors sat at table and chairs at the front of the builidng, man sat on the floor with a bicycle, car parked to the left, street with buildings, blue clear sky — 'Small Project' nominee: Kingston Ancient Market Place and Stalls by Tonkin Liu

The Twist at the Timber Expo 2015 by the Architectural Association, exhibition hall, wooden floor, metal strut high ceiling with skylights and lighting, wooden sculpture in the centre, visitor guide rope to the left and right, metal pillar, blurred people images walking by — 'Small Project' nominee: The Twist at the Timber Expo 2015 by the Architectural Association

Small Project’ , tall wooden bespoke doors, potted red planters either side, white stone frame and pathway, small black fence, glass design around the door frame, white brick walls — 'Small Project' nominee: doors for 55 St James' Street by Sarah Kay

Hollow by Zeller & Moye, wooden pieces merge together to create a wall and floor filled with different shades of wooden blocks — 'Small Projects' nominee: *Hollow* by Zeller & Moye

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Wood Awards website

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).

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