Best Use of Certified Timber Prize: one month left to wait!

24 October 2018 Sustainable construction

Excitement is growing as the annual World Architecture Festival approaches and one of the nine shortlisted projects will be awarded the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize – supported by PEFC.

Every shortlisted architect will present their entry to an international judging panel.

One of the judges charged with making this important decision is Australian architect Mark Thomson, an expert in sustainable construction and board member of Responsible Wood, our national member in Australia.

The World Architecture Festival takes place 28-30 November at the RAI in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and we will be there. Look out for our PEFC Stand C95, Hall 5. Our purpose built stand, designed to showcase certified wood, has been constructed using PEFC-certified timber supplied by leading French timber company, PIVETEAUBOIS.

Jury member Mark Thomson

Australian architect Mark Thomson has developed a reputation as an expert in sustainable construction. Building his own timber home not only netted him three architectural awards, but also convinced him of the multiple benefits wood products offer.

In addition to his work as an architect, Mr. Thomson is a board member of Responsible Wood and has consulted for major environmental organizations, managed hundreds of projects and lectured at more than 10 universities.

He is also a board member of the Griffith University EcoCentre, a faculty member of the Green Building Council of Australia and a Judge of the Australian Banksia Awards, the world’s longest running Sustainability Awards program. He has been awarded honours for several projects in the design, business, property and development sectors.

Mark Thomson believes that certified sustainable materials are essential for the healthy future of our planet. In a case study featured in “The Environmental Brief – Pathways to Green Design”, he extolled the benefits of engineered wood products and prefabrication.

PIVETEAUBOIS

PIVETEAUBOIS has been at the heart of the French timber sector for 70 years, and is one of Europe’s leading softwood sawmills and manufacturers of timber products for the construction, landscaping and energy sectors.

The family-firm promotes timber as an environmentally sound material as well as bringing innovative design and robust technology to the timber supply chain.

Its services include wood processing as well as designing, manufacturing and delivering high-quality, advanced timber products ranging from structural components such as glulam and cross laminated timber (CLT), to sawn timber, cladding, decking and UC4 fencing and landscaping products.

“The interest and growth potential for solid engineered timber such as CLT is really exciting,” says Elisabeth Piveteau-Boley, Export Sales Manager for the UK and Ireland. “The ways that architects and those designing the built environment are using products such as CLT across Europe and worldwide is incredible.”

PIVETEAUBOIS has extended its reach into the engineered timber sector with the development of a new CLT product, HEXAPLI, which will be used as the main construction material for the PEFC stand at the World Architecture Festival.

The Best Use of Certified Timber Prize supported by PEFC

This year, the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize will be awarded at the World Architecture Festival for the first time.

Supported by PEFC, the prize rewards architects and project teams for using certified timber as the main construction material in an innovative, educational or artistic manner. The winner will be selected in Amsterdam, on 30 November 2018.

Discover the finalists:

• NTNU Gjovik University, Krakani Lumi Camp and Save the Children Expo
• Royal Academy of Music Theatre & Recital Hall and International House
• Macquarie University Incubator and Belarusian Memorial Chapel
• Zallinger Chalets and Mulan Weichang Visitor Centre 

Photo credits: WAF, PIVETEAUBOIS