The combination of engineered timber with traditional joinery was praised by the judges at the Wood Awards 2022
Designed by Feilden Fowles, Homerton College Dining Hall in Cambridge is named the UK’s best new timber building at the 2022 Wood Awards.
The building was praised by the judges for how it celebrates the integrity of its materials, from its design through to its craftsmanship, and for the space it creates which is both welcoming and inspiring to students.
The dining hall, buttery, kitchens, and associated amenities give rise to a bright, airy, and efficient setting by day, which can transform into a dramatic ceremonial setting at night. The ash-lined buttery serves as a café and provides an area to socialise or study.
At the heart of the hall is a timber structure with no interrupting supports that allows for a large, clear space. Each sweet chestnut glulam truss in the hall is formed of four members which are connected at a central node and to the full-height columns on each side, while above these beams an engineered timber roof deck lends lateral stability.
This combination of engineered timber with traditional joinery achieves an elegance, revealed in the butterfly truss design, which echoes traditional collegiate halls but also exploits the compressive strength of the timber.
On deciding on Homerton College Dining Hall as the winner, the judges said they were impressed by the harmony of the structure with the rest of the college, allowing for light and flow from the garden to create a building both ‘natural and iconic’.
ABBA Arena, Mews House, Douglas Fir, and the Equal Access Project also took home awards, showcasing the diverse use of timber, from large commercial arenas through to intimate private homes.
While a new category, ‘Restoration and Reuse’, highlighted projects using timber to preserve and enhance existing buildings. The winner was The Water Tower; a project from Tonkin Liu which transformed an abandoned piece of local infrastructure into a private residence, in what was described as a ‘reimagination of what architecture can be’.
The award makes a two-year clean sweep for the University of Cambridge, who won the Gold Award with their Magdalene College Library last year before going on to win the RIBA Stirling prize.
Signalling the University of Cambridge’s commitment to inclusivity, Homerton College Dining Hall was also praised by the judges at the Architect of the Year Awards, winning the Gold Award in 2021.
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