WOOD
The World Architecture Festival has announced its shortlist for the inaugural ‘Wood
Excellence Prize’
T
he 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.
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 ‘superjury’, 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.”
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 World Architecture
Festival is the largest
The WAF awards sit at the heart of the festival, and
annual festival and live
will see practices from around the world compete
awards programme
across 28 individual award categories for global
for the global architecture community. It is set to take
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