Student architects win with timber

The winners of the 22nd North East Timber Trade Association Structural Timber Award were announced at the organisation's annual dinner in Newcastle last week.

The competition is held annually for third-year architecture students at Newcastle University with the aim of encouraging them to use timber and increase their knowledge of how to work with it in structural and other applications.

This year the challenge was to design a pavilion for Jesmond Dene Park in Newcastle to be used for a range of activities, including public lectures and exhibitions and as a reading room.

According to NETTA’s award committee chairman, James Southern of MH Southern & Co Ltd, entries not only had to make best use of timber, but also perform as a building and fit in with the surroundings.

“Emphasis was placed on an integrated design that links space qualities to sound understanding of timber as a construction material and uses cladding material that responds to aesthetic and environmental aspirations,” he said.

The competition was judged by a team at TRADA headed by Christopher Mettem, and Dr Neveen Hamza, lecturer in architecture at Newcastle University, co-ordinated the entries.

The winners were the team led by Dan Scott.

“This entry won after a difficult selection process because of the generally high standard,” said the judges. “Its organic and inviting shape fulfills the aesthetic brief and complements the topography of the park. The structure is clearly presented and robust.”

The competition was sponsored this year by North Yorkshire Timber group member Joseph Thompson Timber. Director Vic Bellas praised the high standard of the entries. “They’ve come up with some great ideas, from initial designs progressing through to the complete structures,” he said.