WoodWorks, an initiative of the Wood Products Council – a body that strives to promote the benefits of building with wood – recently announced the 16 winners of its 2015 Wood Design Awards. The event offers an opportunity to judge the current state of new and recently-built wooden buildings in the United States.
The winners are split over nine categories on the regional and national level. More important than any one project is that taken as a whole, they demonstrate the versatility of building with wood, and its suitability for even large-scale projects.
The winner of the Institutional Wood Design category, Jackson Hole Airport, in Jackson, Wyoming, stands out from the crowd both for its extensive use of exposed timber, and its sustainability, as evidenced by its LEED Silver certification. Designed by Californian architecture firm Gensler, the first phase of the 10,730 sq m (115,500 sq ft) project was completed in 2010, and the second stage is still in progress.
The airport features low-flow plumbing fixtures, the use of recycled materials, and Forest Stewardship Council-certified timber. The extensive use of heavy timber met the required fire performance (for further reading on this, check out our article on wooden skyscrapers), and the airport primarily features solid Douglas fir columns and glued laminated timber beams, which are joined together with steel fittings.
Other notable winners include the Beauty Of Wood category winner, Stapleton Library. Based in Staten Island, NY, the 696 sq m (7,500 sq ft) project featured the building of an all-new section for an existing library which is constructed of glue-laminated Douglas fir posts, beams and joists, with a Douglas fir roof deck. Viewed from street-level, the library doesn't look remarkably attractive but the interior is indeed stunning.
You can check out each of the winners in the photo gallery.
Source: WoodWorks
