Scion Timber Design Studio Award Winners

9 May 2011

Crown Research Institute Scion is pleased to announce the winners in the Scion Timber Design Studio Awards. The annual awards, held in conjunction with the University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning, recognise excellent design in studio projects using timber.

At an awards ceremony at the University of Auckland on Friday 6 May, winners from both the second and third year Bachelor of Architectural Studies classes, and the first year Master of Architecture course were lauded for their innovative use of timber and outstanding academic achievement for work completed during March to October 2010.

Ran Xu, second year Bachelor student, depicted a house designed for the family from the film Little Miss Sunshine. The interlocking form of the house is inspired by the complicated relationship of the characters in the movie. The use of various external materials, including timber cladding, and three large block forms show the different personalities of the characters and how they are bonded together by the word family (the house).  

A sculptural timber and fabric construction saw Shiqi Lin take the prize for best third year project. Wooden tiles were connected with thread to create statuesque structures, based on traditional Oriental designs, which packed down neatly into a small board-case suitcase. The project was exhibited at the ‘Architecture to Go’ installation in Auckland’s Shed^10 art space in June 2010.

A public library and community centre for Waiheke Island was the focus of Ray Lee`s studio project which saw him take home the prize for the first year Masters class. His design features multiple sustainability aspects and the wave-like timber construction was created to merge with the landscape of Waiheke.

Dave Moore, Research Ergonomist for Scion’s Risk and Design Team, and himself a former architecture student, presented the awards on Friday night and said it was exciting to see what the architects of the future were now creating with forest products.

“Timber is an extremely versatile material that is used both structurally and aesthetically in buildings and artworks. The work of these three winners demonstrates this well and Scion is proud to align itself with the high calibre of work being produced by University of Auckland students.”

Winning students each receive a cash prize to the value of $400. 2011 marks the twelfth year that Scion has supported the Timber Design Awards.

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