Wood Awards 2014
Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft
Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft by Adam Richards Architects won the Arnold Laver Gold Award in the 2014 Wood Awards competition at the winners’ ceremony in Carpenters’ Hall on the 18th November.
The Museum, in East Sussex, took the Existing Building category prize before being crowned the “winner of winners” in front of more than 200 leading industry and architectural figures.
The judges praised the winner as “an exemplary little low-budget rural museum by an architect to note for the future. A mix of new-build and restoration, of ancient techniques co-existing happily with the high technology of today -and is designed in such a way as to waste practically nothing.”
Other category winners include The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London by McCurdy & Co for the Commercial & Public Access Award; House No. 7 in Tiree, Scotland by Denizen Works for the Private Award; Alfriston School Swimming Pool in Beaconsfield by Duggan Morris Architect for the Structural Award, and the small but perfectly formed Studio in Oxford by James Wyman Architects for the Small Project Award.
In the Wood Awards furniture categories, the Bespoke Furniture Award was won by Makers’ Eye for Oak Furniture for the Dickson Poon Centre at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford.
Fowler & Co’s ‘Hat Tree’ took the Production Made Furniture Award, which was praised by the judges for its adaptation to the rigours of the production process.
Bespoke furniture winnerTwo Judges’ Special Awards were given this year. The first went to dRMM Architects and team for Endless Stair, created in American tulipwood CLT for the London Design Festival, “a project that combined being an exciting and accessible piece of public art with research into innovative new ways of using a material”.
The second was awarded to specialist joinery company Jack Badger Ltd for their Hand carved Gothic doors; two ornate pairs of Gothic oak doors constructed using traditional techniques and using 100% oak for the construction.
Chairman of the judges Michael Buckley said, “The Wood Awards go from strength to strength. This year there were several possible category winners from the outset but the final debate among the judges was not easy.The panel of independent judges spent 116 judge-days during the summer personally inspecting the short-list in order to ensure we are truly celebrating the exceptional.”
As the flagship for wood in the best of British architecture, furniture and design, the Wood Awards is made possible by the major sponsorship of the Carpenters’ Company, American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), TRADA and Wood for Good. Other sponsors include American Softwoods, BRE, the Forestry Commission, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) and the British Woodworking Federation (BWF).
Oak Furniture for the Dickson Poon Centre
The Wood Awards judging panel includes Hugh Pearman and Eleanor Young of RIBA Journal, Jim Greaves of Hopkins Architects, Andrew Lawrence from Arup, David Morley, Adam Khan, architectural writer Ruth Slavid, timber engineering consultant Nathan Wheatley from Engenuiti and craft specialist John Wilkie, and the panel is chaired by Michael Buckley. Sean Sutcliffe of Benchmark Furniture leads the Wood Awards eminent furniture judging panel of John Makepeace, Rod Wales and Katie Walker.
For full project information on the shortlist and winners, visit www.woodawards.com
