> NI STUDENTS DOMINATE WOOD AWARDS
07 July 2011
Architecture and engineering awards go north while Letterfrack claims design prize
University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast won the top architecture and engineering prizes at this year’s Third Level Student Wood Awards while the award for best design project went west to GMIT Letterfrack. Duncan Stewart, architect and television presenter praised the nine students and their colleges who were shortlisted for the awards at a prize-giving ceremony in the RDS, Dublin (23 June). He also called on other colleges to follow their lead and use wood because “it is a proven sustainable material with major environmental benefits”.
Caitriona Hickey of University of Ulster won the architecture section for an ambitious project: the Big House in the City, designed as a temporary residential complex to house homeless people. It comprises 21 dwelling units and a “Big House” designed to “hold public and communal facilities” according to Hickey. “My building is a shelter from the storm,” said the UU final year student. “It provides sanctuary for those who require it in their time of need, allowing them to stay until either the storm has passed or until they feel that they are once again ready to weather the storm.”
The winner of the engineering award, Neil Campbell demonstrated the strength qualities of steel reinforced prestressed timber beams. In a highly innovative project the Queen’s University Belfast student convinced the judging panel of the strength of his product, claiming that “initial experiments on glulam beams reinforced with grade 8.8 steel threaded bar show a decrease in deflections”.
Jens Kosak of Letterfrack College designed a “Fixing Free Bed” made from poplar plywood. Letterfrack which is the furniture design centre of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology has been a consistent winner of the national student wood awards. While Kosak’s project will be marketed as a flat-pack design, it will have one major advantage over its competitors as he demonstrated when he assembled the bed for the judging panel without the use of tools or fixings. The Letterfrack student has been working on the project for some time and has submitted it for testing to British Standards to guarantee the strength of the product.
Launched in 2006 by the Wood Marketing Federation in association with Wood NI, the awards are now much sought after by third level students of architecture, engineering and design in Ireland who incorporate wood as an inherent element in their projects.
Award winners have gone on to pursue successful careers in wood and related businesses and have exhibited at Irish and international shows. A number of students are already discussing the commercial production of their projects including Kosak and shorlisted student Robert Stack, Bray Institute of Further Education who designed a mobile timber marquee.
The objective of the awards is to encourage students to explore functional, aesthetic and design aspects of wood and wood products. The awards are judged by top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering and design. This year they were judged by Duncan Stewart, Simon O’Driscoll, O’Driscoll Furniture, Malcolm Jacob an engineer who speicalised in wood construction and Maurice Brooks, Director Wood NI.
Christy Conway, chairman of the Wood Marketing Federation thanked the participating colleges and students who “are the generation that will bring wood usage and design to a new level”.
He also praised the colleges for engaging with the Wood Marketing Federation in its nationwide wood promotion drive to encourage greater use of wood in architecture, engineering and design courses.
He thanked Wood NI for their support and the sponsors of the awards who “have continued to fund the project despite the economic downturn. “These are vital to future of the wood and wood products industry,” he said. “I would like to thank the main sponsor Coillte and COFORD – the National Council for Forest Research and Development – who have been with the project since it began. I also welcome our most recent sponsor the Society of Irish Foresters.”
Attachments:
Wood-ni winners
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