1. Cork House:
Gold Award & Private Winner
Cork House is built almost entirely from cork and timber. Monolithic walls and corbelled roof pyramids are built with load-bearing expanded cork made from the bark of the cork oak tree, a byproduct from wine stoppers. The house, which is adorned with five skylight-topped ziggurats, is a prefabricated kit of parts. Blocks of expanded cork were CNC-machined off-site and then assembled on-site by hand without mortar or glue. All 1268 pure cork blocks will be available at end-of-building-life as either biological or technical nutrients.
Location: Eton
Architect: Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton
Client: Matthew Barnett Howland and Dido Milne
Structural engineer: Arup
Main contractor: Matthew Barnett Howland with M&P London Contractors
Joinery: Whyte & Wood
CNC machining of cork blocks: Wup Doodle
Internal joinery: Nic Rhode Furniture
Furniture: Tom Graham Workshop
Wood supplier: NFP Europe
Wood species: Portuguese cork oak, New Zealand pine, Estonian spruce, American/Canadian western red cedar, Austrian spruce and American white oak
2. Royal Opera House ‘Open Up’:
Commercial & Leisure
Striking the right balance between heritage and 21st-century life, the transformation of the Royal Opera House reimagines the world-renowned home of ballet and opera. Improved access and transparency, a completely new Linbury Theatre and new foyers, terraces, cafes, bars, restaurant and retail facilities extend the building’s life outside of performance hours. At entrance level, subtle timber elements inlaid in the stone floor offer a warm welcome.
Location: London
Architect: Stanton Williams
Client: Royal Opera House
Structural engineers: Arup, Robert Bird Group
Main contractor: Swift Crafted
Joinery: Birmingham Veneers, TT Gillard, Thornell Veneers
Construction manager: Rise
Wood supplier: Missouri Walnut LLC
Veneer supplier: Reliance Veneer Co
Wood species: American black walnut
3. Cambridge Central Mosque:
Education & Public Sector The first purpose-built mosque in Cambridge is a calm oasis of contemplation within a grove of trees, inspired by an image of the garden of paradise – with its water fountain symbolising the source of all life. Timber was chosen for its natural, warm and calming qualities.
Location: Cambridge
Architect: Marks Barfield Architects
Client: Cambridge Mosque Trust
Structural engineer: Price & Myers
Main contractor: Gilbert-Ash
Joinery: The Deluxe Group
Wood supplier: Mayr-Melnhof Holz Reuthe GmbH
Timber frame engineer and installer: Blumer Lehmann
Project manager: Bidwells
Building services and sustainability consultant: Skelly & Couch
Wood species: European spruce,oak and mahogany
4. Battersea Arts Centre:
Interiors
In March 2015, a fire broke out in the northern half of the 1890s Grade II* Listed building destroying the roof to the largest performance space. The original decorative plaster barrel-vaulted ceiling was completely lost. Rather than replicating the lost ceiling, a contemporary plywood lattice ceiling was conceived.
Location: London
Architect: Haworth Tompkins
Structural engineer: Heyne Tillett Steel
Main contractor: 8build
Lattice ceiling joinery: Joinery Fixing and Finishing
Wood supplier: IBL
Wood species: European poplar plywood with birch faces
5. MultiPly:
Small Project
MultiPly is a carbon-neutral-engineered timber pavilion, made from hardwood CLT. The vertical maze of stacked modules and staircases creates labyrinthine spaces which intertwine, inviting people to explore the use of wood in architecture and reflect on how we build our homes and cities.
Architect: Waugh Thistleton Architects
Client: American Hardwood Export Council
Structural engineer: Arup
Main contractor: Stage One
CLT panel manufacturer: Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC)
Lighting design: SEAM
Wood supplier: Glenalmond Timber Company
Wood species: American tulipwood
6. House in a Garden:
Replacing a dilapidated bungalow built in the 1960s in the garden of an 1840s villa, the house is on ground and two basement floors surrounded by gardens, light wells and skylights. The ground-floor, pavilion-like structure floats, creating distant views through gaps in the city skyline. Wood is used throughout the project: structurally for the roof; as wall, floor and ceiling linings; and for the floating staircase.
Location: London
Architect: Gianni Botsford Architects
Structural engineer: Built Engineers
Main contractor: New Wave
Roof structure: ZÜBLIN Timber GmbH
Joinery: New Wave
Stair manufacturer: SteelOne srl
Wood supplier: Roof ZÜBLIN Timber GmbH, Floors, Walls, Ceilings, Stairs Dinesen
Landscape architect: Todd Longstaffe-Gowan
Wood species: European spruce, birch and Douglas fir
7. The Kissing Benches:
Bespoke
The Kissing Benches were made for the newly reinvented Figaro Garden at Glyndebourne. The garden required something that would complement and not draw attention away from the Henry Moore sculpture. These benches are a contemporary take on an old style of outdoor seating, designed to enable people to engage in conversation, embrace or kiss.
Designer/maker: Alison Crowther
Client/owner: Glyndebourne
Wood supplier: Neil Humphries
Timber conversion: Vastern Timber
Photography: Jacqui Hurst
Wood species: English oak
8. Littoral Chances 1&2
Bespoke
This unmatched pair of collecting cabinets is based on the beauty of chance composition. Gates is drawn to industrial and agricultural architecture, including jetties and pylons, and the paraphernalia that populates these sites, such as containers and crates.
Designer/maker: David Gates
Vitreous enamel on steel panels: Helen Carnac
Wood supplier: Adamson & Low, English Woodland Timber and Timberline
Wood species: European oak, bog oak, ripple sycamore, cedar of Lebanon and Douglas fir, American bird’s eye maple
9. Ian McChesney Bench:
Production
These highly crafted benches are made in two sizes. The gallery bench is designed to sit in the middle of a room and is 900mm deep to allow for sitting on both sides. The foyer bench is designed to sit at the edge of the room and is 600mm deep to allow for sitting on one side only. The gently pillowed top and bottom give the benches a very natural feel.
Designer: Ian McChesney
Manufacturer: Benchmark
Wood supplier: PB hardwoods and English woodlands timber wood
Species: European oak or American black walnut
10. Bio Iridescent Sequin:
Student Designer
Bio Iridescent Sequin is a response to the unsustainable shimmering beads and sequins currently used in fashion and textiles. Brunato’s sequin uses bio-technologies to create colourful, shimmering sequins from naturally abundant wood.
Designer/maker: Elissa Brunato
University/college: Central Saint Martins, Material Futures
Bio-engineering wood/cellulose: Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Hjalmar Granberg and Tiffany Abitbol
Wood species: Canadian softwood Kraft pulp
11. Anton Mikkonen:
Student Designer People’s Choice Award
As a young boy, Mikkonen was fascinated by woodgrain and knots. He would look for knots near each other and create faces and other shapes. With the Udon Stool, Mikkonen has matched the uniqueness of wood grain with a very unique aesthetic. The stool consists of five parts; all CNC routed with a 2D CNC machine.
Designer: Anton Mikkonen
University/college: The Sir John Cass School of Art
Wood species: Ash