Established in 1971, the Wood Awards is the UK’s premier competition for excellence in architecture and product design in the world’s only naturally sustainable material. The Awards are free to enter and aim to encourage and promote outstanding design, craftsmanship and installation using wood. Within the Furniture & Product competition there are three subcategories: Bespoke, Production and Student Designer.

BESPOKE

THE KISSING BENCHES

Designer/maker: Alison Crowther

Client/owner: Glyndebourne

Wood supplier: Neil Humphries

Timber conversion: Vasterns

Wood species: English oak

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. Gigantic beam sections of green English oak have been hand carved to create an ergonomic and attractive seat surface. The benches were hand-carved using traditional gouges and mallets.

LITTORAL CHANCES 1&2

Designer/maker: David Gates

Vitreous enamel on steel panels: Helen Carnac

Wood supplier: Adamson & Low, English Woodland Timber and Timberline

Wood species: British European oak, bog oak, ripple sycamore, Cedar of Lebanon and Douglas fir, American bird’s eye maple

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. Gates is often struck by the balance and beauty of chance compositions; how stacked and piled objects present themselves sculpturally. The timber has been sawn, scraped, planed, and cleft to emphasise the woods’ varying surfaces.

MY SEOUL

Designer/maker: Cristina Zani

Wood supplier: GS Timber

Wood species: British beech, olive and lime

Inspired by Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Zani’s work is a reflection on the urban environment. The My Seoul collection is influenced by the contrast between South Korea’s sombre modern architecture and its vibrant ancient wooden temples and painted palaces. Zani has borrowed elements from the city’s landscape to visually describe it and subtly suggest it to the viewer. Like South Korea’s architecture, the pieces show the vulnerability of materials when exposed to time and elements.

PRODUCTION

IAN MCCHESNEY BENCH

Designer: Ian McChesney

Manufacturer: Benchmark

Wood supplier: PB Hardwoods and English Woodlands Timber

Wood species: European oak or American Black Walnut

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.

LATIS CHAIR

Designer: Samuel Wilkinson Studio

Manufacturer: The Conran Shop

Wood species: Ash

The LATIS range is a collection of three lightweight, versatile chairs that all share the same steam-bent frame made from a single piece of specially selected ash. The elegant Viennese-plaited lattice straw version is refined and super-light. There are also plywood and upholstered versions which are most suitable for commercial environments such as restaurants. All the seat components have been cut into recesses within the ash frames to ensure the chair appears light and modern.

MAX TABLE

Designer: Max Lamb

Manufacturer: Hem

Wood supplier: Zamperetti Legnami SpA

Wood species: American Douglas fir, white ash

At 3m long, Max Table is designed to be a centrepiece in any environment, from conference spaces to dinner parties at home. The table’s simplistic design is deceivingly sophisticated and has been carefully considered with shipping and smart assembly in mind. Douglas fir was selected for its virginal colour tone, characterful grain and ability to withstand usage.

SCIENCE MUSEUM LAB STOOL

Designer/manufacturer: King and Webbon

Client: Science Museum

CNC Routing: Fineline

Wood supplier: Winwood Products

Wood species: European beech ply

King and Webbon collaborated with the Science Museum to create a stackable stool that they hope to be the start of a new sustainable approach to flat-pack furniture. The stool is delivered in a robust, reusable cardboard storage case and can be put together in under 15 minutes using just an Allen key. The design is inspired by the classic stacking lab stools we remember from our school days. Made using beech, the stool offers a real solution to small space living.

STUDENT DESIGNER

Within the Student Designer category there are two cash prizes: £1000 for Winner and £500 for People’s Choice. Voting for the People’s Choice Award will take place at 100% Design.

BIO IRIDESCENT SEQUIN

Designer/maker: Elissa Brunato

University/college: Central Saint Martins

Wood supplier: Celluforce

Bio-engineering wood/cellulose: Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE)

Wood species: Canadian softwood Kraft pulp

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. Through extracting the crystalline form of cellulose, the wood imitates the alluring visual aesthetics of shiny plastic while remaining lightweight, strong and compostable.

KENT STICK CHAIR

Designer: Matthew Hensby

University/college: Building Crafts College

Wood supplier: South East Forestry and Tyler Hardwoods

Wood species: English ash

Kent Stick Chair is a contemporary Windsor chair made from green ash selected from a coppiced woodland in Kent. Hensby’s ambition was to develop a contemporary chair from traditional processes. The chair was created using hand tools and embraces the textures made by the tools. The piece was assembled with moisture differential joinery, resulting in a chair that becomes tighter and stronger as the components dry around one another. The timber has been finished with an organic linseed oil paint.

BURNOUT

Designer: Francesco Feltrin

University/college: Royal College of Art

Wood species: spruce, pine, fir, birch and poplar

Feltrin was inspired by the Bruder Klaus Chapel by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Taking Zumthor’s idea of burning out a wooden mould, Feltrin adapted it to work with low-hazard resin and paper. The paper is rolled andtwisted in different variations to create a mould that is later burnt out. Burnout is about designing the void that will be chiselled by fire. A layer of newspaper pages remains stuck to the final object, transforming a disposable newspaper in something that will last for decades.

ISO CABINETS

Designer: Jack Bibbings

University/college: Building Crafts College

Wood supplier: Tyler Hardwoods

Wood species: English ash and oak

These playful cabinets have been inspired by Bridget Riley and the Op-Art movement, which is based on geometric abstraction and illusion. The name Iso refers to the fact that the cabinets’ geometry is based on an isometric drawing that incorporates 30-, 60- and 90-degree angles. Iso also points to the Greek word for equal as the carcasses of each cabinet are exactly the same.

UDON STOOL

Designer: Anton Mikkonen

University/college: The Sir John Cass School of Art

Wood species: ash

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 woodgrain with a very unique aesthetic. The stool consists of five parts, all CNC routed with a 2D CNC machine.