AHEC Sponsored World Architecture Festival announces shortlist for ‘Wood Excellence Prize’

 Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced the shortlist of projects for the ‘Wood Excellence Prize’, which makes it debut at this year’s WAF awards programme. Sponsored by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the Wood Excellence Prize is the first of its kind to feature on the festival’s awards programme with the only criterion being that wood is an integral part of the project. Over forty submissions were received for the award and eight great timber projects will now be put forward for the final judging in Singapore led by renowned architect, Matteo Thun. The winner will be announced at the WAF awards ceremony on Friday, October 3, 2014.

The shortlisted projects include The Tent by a21studio (Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam); Pittwater House by Andrew Burges Architects (Sydney, Australia); Earth Wind and Fire Atelier by Arcau (Vannes, France); School ‘t Hofke by UArchitects (Eindhoven, The Netherlands); Regional Terminal at Christchurch Airport by BVN Donovan Hill (Christchurch, New Zealand); Salvaged Ring by a21studio (Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam); Alex Monroe Studio by DSDH (London, UK); and The Pinch by the Department of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong (Zhaotong, China). The architects responsible have now been invited to present their project to the prize judges live at the festival.

Paul Finch, Programme Director, World Architecture Festival said: “This was a great way to appreciate how a ‘traditional’ material can be used to transform exteriors and interiors in new and unexpected ways.”

The WAF awards sit at the heart of the festival, and will see practices from around the world compete across 28 individual award categories for global recognition. Competing across three category groups of completed buildings, landscape projects and future projects, previous WAF award entrants have ranged from renowned global architectural firms to small local practices. The winners of each category are put forward to vie for the coveted World Building of the Year award, presided over by the festival’s ‘super-jury’, with the presentation of the award being the culmination of WAF 2014.

According to Roderick Wiles, AHEC Director for Africa, Middle East, South Asia and Oceania: “During WAF, we plan to show ‘The Wish List’ – an ambitious design project featuring a stellar list of architects and designers, including Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, John Pawson, Alison Brooks and Amanda Levete. The project showcases how life cycle assessment (LCA) tools can be used to create an environmental profile for product design. Given that WAF is going to provide a new platform for showcasing wood in architecture around the world, it is fitting that we throw the spotlight on LCA, which can help the industry establish environmental frameworks that have real meaning and assess true sustainability.”

Tags: AHEC, Wood Excellence Prize, World Architecture Festival