Celebrating the Winners of the Timber Design Awards

Culminating in a Gala event to announce and applaud the winners, this year’s Timber Design Awards saw creative and inventive uses of timber, with many of the winning projects featuring Abodo products.

Returning after a three-year hiatus, the awards celebrated innovative uses of timber around the country, from feats of engineering on large-scale commercial projects to smaller architectural follies that make creative use of timber for both structure and aesthetic effect.

Winners were announced at a lively, sold-out gala event on November 2nd gala; an excellent opportunity to celebrate timber design and build ingenuity.

We were especially pleased to applaud Andrew Barrie Lab, who was a winner of the Abodo-sponsored category, the Interior Design Award, for Learning from Trees. This project was originally created for the Italian Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia and makes extensive use of Abodo screening timber for its simple, yet effective lattice structure.

“The Timber Design Award for Learning from Trees was a lovely acknowledgement of the effort that had gone in from a big team – designers, suppliers, fabricators, administration crew, and sponsors,” says Andrew. “In showing at the Venice Biennale, we were explicitly trying to demonstrate the particular approach we take here in New Zealand. Being so far from the rest of the world, we have to make the most of our specific circumstances.”

Andrew Barrie Lab was also a winner in the Innovative Timber Manufacturing category for his Lightweight Timber Research Structures, which were created by postgraduate students at the University of Auckland - School of Architecture & Planning. Taking CNC manufacturing techniques to new levels, these dynamic timber structures make use of minimal metal fastenings, with Abodo timber chosen for many due to its all-important stability.

Also featuring Abodo, a winner of a Mid-Rise Building Award, Pacific Environments NZ Ltd’s Clearwater Quays Apartments in Christchurch is a commendable feat of timber engineering, with its 5-level tower created from structural timber. To create warmth and a richness of texture, this building uses Abodo’s Vulcan Decking within the deck and balcony areas as well as for the ground level garages.

Featuring Abodo’s Tundra weatherboards, the Motueka Library by Jerram Tocker Barram Architects was highly commended in the Sustainable Development Awards. With a timber structure and extensive timber interior treatments, this net zero electricity building features many incredible sustainability features, including a wastewater filtration system that feeds into a carp pond and 256 roof-mounted photovoltaic panels, generating surplus energy for the grid.

As a naturally durable, chemical free product, the Abodo Tundra Cladding adds to the library’s sustainability credentials and also helps to create the desired barn-like aesthetic.

Another highly commended in the Residential Design Award for Single Family Dwelling category, Kauri House is a renovation project by Context Architect that features Abodo’s Vulcan Cladding in Protector - Nero on the exterior. Blending Japanese and African design influences, the home takes on the appearance of a lantern, with vertical Vulcan weatherboards providing contrast against the warm timber and grey treatments used indoors.

With the awards now in their 48th year, this year’s winners represented an uptake in the use of timber for larger scale projects, as well as a celebration of the beauty of wood for design features. We applaud all the winners and thank the organisers Timber Unlimited, as well as all the other sponsors who contributed. We can’t wait to see what next year has in store.