2 March 2011
In the wake of the Christchurch earthquake, the New Zealand wood sector association, Woodco, stands ready to support New Zealand home builders.
Winners of the NZ Wood Timber Design Awards 2010
A visitors’ centre at Waitomo Caves took out three of the top prizes at the NZ Wood Timber Design Awards announced tonight.
Winning both the Commercial Architecture and Commercial Engineering Excellence Awards, the centre also picked up a Clever Solutions award.
Designed and built by a consortium of Dunning Thornton Consultants, Architecture Workshop, Hunters and Hawkins Construction, the judges said the building was a “highly-engineered answer to functional needs, which has been achieved in a structure which is as much high-performance as it is delicate”.
Another of the main prizes went to the new Supreme Court Building in Wellington designed by Warren and Mahoney.
Winning the Interior Fit-out Award, the judges commended the “mesmerising interior, demonstrating the craft of modern digital technology, fabrication and biomimetic design”.
Using silver beech, the courtroom’s panelling mimics the spiral diamond patterns of the native kauri cone.
Another highly commended entry was the “Folding Whare”, a simple, collapsible one room emergency shelter for use in disaster recovery designed by Callum Dowie in his final year at Unitec’s architectural school.
This year’s People’s Choice Award – decided by popular on-line vote– was won by Ambienti Architects for their Papamoa (Tauranga) based sales pavilion and community centre.
The Scott’s Landing beach residence by Stephenson and Turner Architects won the Residential Architectural Excellence Award for their design of a beach house at Mahurangi Harbour, north of Auckland.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s multi-purpose building in Wallaceville, Wellington, also designed by Stephenson and Turner Architects, won the Sustainability Award for the architects’ “elegant but ambitious project to create a five green star rating using a refined architectural palette”.
Birkenhead’s library and civic centre designed by Archoffice won the Cladding Building Envelope Award for its “sculptural timber façade”.
The awards were announced at a function at Te Papa, Wellington, on Monday night.
Sponsors included NZ Wood, Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts, Timberbond, Kop-Coat and the Timber Design Society.
The awards were judged by structural engineer Ross Davison, builder David Brown and architect Elvon Young.
(Details of all winners attached.)
For further information, contact:
Brian Langham
NZ Wood
021 784 626
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"While Christchurch needs houses, New Zealand timber companies can supply them.
"We are confident in our ability to supply whatever is needed - we only need to know where and when," said Woodco chairman, Doug Ducker.
"We want to reassure the people of Christchurch that New Zealand's timber construction industry is ready and able to supply what they require," said Mr Ducker.
"Woodco representatives have been in close contact with the Department of Building and Housing, and while they continue to assess the region’s needs and options, Woodco has canvassed the timber industry to ensure that any demand for temporary accommodation in Christchurch can be met.
"Sawmills have stock available, and fabricators - from frame and truss manufacturers, to the prefabricated home suppliers - can and will meet the demand and deadline.
"The industry shares the vision of a multitude of political and community leaders who have called for the rebuilding of Christchurch in wood, and will be here for the long run to help make the reconstruction possible."
Woodco is an "association of associations", consisting of the Wood Processors' Association, Pine Manufacturers' Association, Forest Owners' Association, Farm Forestry Association and Forest Industry Contractors' Association.
For more information, contact either: Doug Ducker (Chair Woodco) 021 474 708 and 06 831 0100, or Jon Tanner (CEO Wood Processors' Association)04 473 9220.
Source: Woodco media release
