merrion street

Andrew Doyle, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for forestry, presented the prizes to the winners of the 2016 Wood Awards Ireland at a ceremony in Farmleigh House, Dublin, last night (Thursday).

Addressing the gathering, the Minister of State welcomed the Wood Awards, as a means by which the versatility and many uses of timber are highlighted. The Wood awards are organised by the Wood Marketing Federation with the support of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland. Awards were made in six different categories.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, the Minister said “The range of categories for which Awards were made emphasise the versatility of wood in the various uses. Wood Awards Ireland is more than a competition among individual projects, even though those projects represent the very best of what can be achieved by designers, architects, engineers and craftsmen working in timber. They also highlight Irish forestry sector, which has been engaged very successfully in cultivating a renewable and sustainable resource that provides a raw material for our sawmilling and timber processing industry”.

Referring to the potential to extend the use of wood construction into the medium rise and multi-storey building sectors, Minister Doyle said “These uses not only store carbon and mitigate climate change, but can considerably reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions associated with construction”.

The project categories in the Wood Awards Ireland 2016 included large-scale buildings, small-scale residential buildings, restoration and conservation, structural projects, furniture and innovation. There was also an International wood award, supported by Enterprise Ireland, and an Award for New Entrants.

The overall winners received specially commissioned sculptures in wood by Michael Warren.
“the sculptures Michael created for the winners of the inaugural Wood Awards in 2014 are prized works of art in their own right and I am certain that all the winners will appreciate and cherish the beautiful pieces that they received.” concluded Minister Doyle.

Notes to editors

The juries selected an overall winner and six category winners as below.
CATEGORY WINNERS PROJECT DESIGNER/ARCHITECT

OVERALL WINNER Samuel Beckett Civic Campus
Ballyogan Rd., Dublin Bucholz McEvoy Architects
LARGE SCALE BUILDINGS – Joint winners Samuel Beckett Civic Campus
Ballyogan Rd., Dublin Bucholz McEvoy Architects
Model School, National School, Inchicore Donaghy + Dimond Architects
FURNITURE WINNER Range of furniture at OPTICA, Dawson Street, Dublin RyanConnolly, Connolly & Company
INNOVATION Magnus Celestii a temporary installation in Sculpture Park, Salisbury, England Joseph Walsh Studio
INTERNATIONAL PROJECT Wind and Rain Bridge, Peitian Village, Liancheng, Fujian Province China Donn Holohan, lecturer at the University of Hong Kong co-ordinated the project which included local woodworkers and rchitecture students,.

JUDGES SPECIAL AWARD Carmelite Prayer Room, St. Teresa’s Church, Clarendon Street, Dublin Niall McLoughlin Architects