A library on the beautiful Waiheke Island has taken out the top prize of Resene Overall Winner at the 2015 NZ Wood-Resene Timber Design Awards at a ceremony at the Rendezvous Hotel, Auckland on the evening of 15 September.

Designed by Phillip Howard of Architects Pacific Environments NZ, who took his inspiration from the grove of pohutukawa trees on the site, the finished Waiheke library was so successful that it led the judges to comment, “This building is a lyrical response to the idea of a timber library building, and a structurally robust yet visually appealing statement.”

Rotorua Lakes Council Mayor Steve Chadwick was awarded the inaugural “Wood First” Award for her leadership role in making the district the first in New Zealand to implement a ‘wood first’ policy that facilitates and encourages the use of wood as a preferred and sustainable product.

The awards, which have been running since 1975, were judged this year by Cheshire Architects principal Pip Cheshire, engineering manager of Pryda NZ Daniel Scheibmair and MBIE chief architect Dr Duncan Joiner.

Entrants competed within eight categories covering residential and commercial architectural excellence, innovation and novel applications of wood. 

See below for a list of winners in each category.

Resene Overall Winner (highly commended)

Trimble Navigations Offices, Christchurch Central
By Andrew Brown of Opus International

Residential Architecture Excellence

Maniatutu Road Residence, Pongakawa (Bay of Plenty)
By Brian White of Edwards White Architects

Commercial Architectural Excellence

Waiheke Island Library, Waiheke Island, Auckland
By Phillip Howard of Architects Pacific Environments NZ

Engineering Innovation

Joint winner: Wynn Williams House, Christchurch Central
By Grant Wilkinson of Ruamoko Solutions

Joint winner: Trimble Navigations Office, Christchurch Central
By Andrew Brown of Opus International 

Excellence in Engineered Wood Products

Upper Queen Street Generation 3 & 4 Timber buildings, Richmond, Nelson
By Andrew Irving by Irving Smith Jack Architects

Interior Innovation

Kashiwa, Nelson
David Wallace of Arthouse Architects

Exterior Innovation and Infrastructure

Depth of Shadow Sunscreens, Wellington
By Mark Southcombe of Southcombe Architects

New Zealand Indigenous and Specialty Timber Award

Pukeahu National War Memorial Park Pavilions, Te Aro, Wellington
By Phil Mark of Wraight Athfield Landscape Architecture

Novel Application of Timber Award

Beach Barn, New Brighton, Christchurch
By Dan Remewan of Welhaus

For more information on the Timber Awards and winners, see the website.