Discover the finalists for the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize I

27 July 2018 Sustainable construction

We are delighted to present the first three shortlisted projects for the World Architecture Festival’s Best Use of Certified Timber Prize: the new university building of NTNU Gjøvik in Norway, a camp in aboriginal land in Tasmania and an Expo pavilion from Milan, which was reborn as a school in Lebanon.

Supported by PEFC, the prize rewards architects and project teams for using certified timber for constructions outstanding in sustainability, innovation, quality or aesthetics.

NTNU Gjovik University – Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter 

NTNU Gjovik University Norway

The new university building for NTNU Gjøvik was designed as a guide mark for a sustainable future, using certified timber as the main construction material. The building is a certified “Plus House”, indicating that it supplies more energy than it consumes.

The building is made of untreated, certified spruce‐fir and pine timber, supported only by some structural concrete. All the materials were provided by local suppliers, to support the local tradition of building with wood. 90% of the timber used for the construction will be replanted.

The new university building is a place of inspiration, prioritizing daylight and openness in the design. By involving the students of NTNU Gjøvik in the building process, the project had an additional educational purpose.

Krakani Lumi Camp – Taylor and Hinds Architects

Krakani Lumi Camp in Australia

The Krakani Lumi Camp is located in Tasmania’s North East National Park and serves as a  stopover for up to ten visitors taking guided walks through aboriginal land in Tasmania. Constructed for the Aboriginal Land Council, a key priority of the project was environmental awareness and respect for the native culture.

The only materials used for construction were certified and locally sourced timber and metal. Thanks to the surface of dark, charred wood and the surrounding dense banksia bushes, the camp is well camouflaged and hardly visible when not in use.

Opening the sliding doors reveals the warm half-domed interior, lined with blackwood and inspired by the traditional constructions of Tasmania’s first peoples.

Through the design of a protective surface that conceals a precious interior, Krakani Lumi tells the story of concealing and revealing, accentuating the Aboriginal stories being told during the tours through their land.

Save the Children Expo Milano 2015 – AOUMM srl stp

Designed as a temporary exhibition pavilion for the Expo 2015 in Milan, the construction provides the possibility to be quickly disassembled and rebuilt elsewhere. Thanks to the flexibility of the design, the building could be adapted to serve as a schoolhouse for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, where it provides classrooms for 300 pupils.

With the aim of reviving a native wood species, the main wood used for the structure is certified silver fir, known as the ecological tree of Europe. The successful reconstruction of the building in Lebanon without any signs of deterioration proved the high quality of the timber.

The pavilion was built using almost exclusively energy from water and biomass and is therefore an outstanding example for sustainability in construction.

The Best Use of Certified Timber Prize supported by PEFC

This year, the World Architecture Festival and PEFC will reward the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize for the first time, recognising architects and project teams for their use of certified timber as a main construction material.

In total, 40 architects from over 20 countries entered their projects into the prize. While certified timber is a core construction material, the type and purposes of the buildings vary widely, demonstrating the versatility of timber as a construction material.

The winner of the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize will be selected at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Amsterdam, on 30 November 2018.

Designing the future with sustainable timber

Across the world, the architecture community is embracing solid and engineered wood to deliver high profile, award winning projects and everyday designs - from houses, schools and hotels to restaurants, theatres, supermarkets and swimming pools.

Under the theme Designing the Future with Sustainable Timber, a range of stakeholders have come together under the leadership of PEFC to promote the use of wood in construction in general and certified wood in particular. Join us! Contact us at fabienne.sinclair@pefc.org.

 Photo credits: Statsbygg_Trond-Isaksen, Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter, Taylor and Hinds Architects, AOUMM S.r.l S.t.p