Category 5 Interior Design Award finalist – Hamilton Airport, Archimedia Waikato Architects. Picture: Simon Wilson
Since 1975, professionals across the New Zealand construction sector have been celebrating timber design and its usage and on 2 November 2023, the Timber Design Awards will be celebrated in Auckland. Source: Timberbiz
After a three-year hiatus in the awards, Timber Unlimited is thrilled to be hosting this event, with a total of 18 different companies sponsoring 12 separate categories, the People’s Choice Award and the gala evening.
“It’s no mistake we call ourselves Timber Unlimited,” Dr Robert Finch, Director of Timber Unlimited said. “The possibilities for timber aren’t limited to traditional uses any more. We all know timber can be aesthetically beautiful as well as being an impressive building material, but this time we’re also celebrating just how sustainable a sector this is. We exist to build belief in the possibilities of timber.
“To prove that timber is the smart choice for now and in the future and assist the industry in exploring the features and benefits of timber, and how to use it to create better built environments. What better way to help us do this than the Timber Design Awards?
“The rapidly increasing use of timber in so many innovative and exciting ways has the added benefit of sequestering CO2, helping us all transition to a low-emissions economy.”
Category 10 Innovation Timber Engineering
Awards Manager Debbie Fergie agrees and said that now more than ever, it’s important we recognise and celebrate the engineers, architects, architectural designers and builders who push boundaries and embrace change by championing nature’s greatest building material, sourced from the country’s renewable, natural, resource-based forests.
“We’re helping the New Zealand design industry understand the many ways timber can inspire their visions and solve their construction challenges,” she said
Nearly 50 years ago, timber began to emerge from its traditional market position of two- or maybe three-storey buildings using slabs, planks and nails. Architects and engineers became excited by the possibilities offered by glue-laminated timber members to span wide areas without additional supports.
Today, the 2023 Timber Design Awards present categories for structures that use timber in ways that again push the boundaries of the possible, challenging steel and concrete as core construction materials or working with them in new and exciting ways.
From residential and commercial architectural excellence to innovative uses of engineered wood, to new ways to use specialty timbers – wood is now firmly established as a favourite of forward-thinking architects and engineers.
Sorting another record-breaking number of entries into just 61 finalists, and ultimately into winners and runners-up, requires a profound understanding of architectural design, engineering skills and innovative thinking as well as constructing excellence. The four judges selected this year are leaders in their sectors.
Residential Design for single family home finalist – Green family home, (Banks Peninsula). Bull O’Sullivan Architecture. Picture: Patrick Reynolds
Convening judge David Carradine is a senior structural research engineer with BRANZ and frequent awards judge.
Jan Stanway is closely involved in the strategy and policy that supports the use of wood products and is Technical Director for WSP in New Zealand. She is a national leader in the seismic design of non-structural elements, as well as Industry Champion for Fit for Purpose Building Components of the Building Innovation Partnership, a seven-year programme at the University of Canterbury.
Andrea Stocchero is a familiar figure in the Timber Design Awards judging panel and is currently a senior analyst, Sector and Bioeconomy Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service. He’s played a key role in research and innovation supporting the use of timber in construction, involved in the strategy and policy that supports the use of wood products. He’s also represented New Zealand in the timber design and construction sector of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Judith Taylor is current President of the NZ Institute of Architects, not only producing exciting work herself but also part of numerous initiatives that further the architectural industry in New Zealand, including setting up training programs for NZ Registered Architects Board (NZRAB) assessors.
The Awards feature 12 different categories and a People’s Choice Award. Ten years ago, entry categories were defined by such terms as “Residential Architectural Excellence,” “Interior Innovation,” and “Novel Application of Wood.”
Finalists are featured on Timber Unlimited’s website – go to https://timberunlimited.co.nz/get-involved/timber-design-awards/2023-timber-design-awards-finalists
