The host of Grand Designs Australia is one of four judges for this year’s Australian Timber Design Awards.
Now it’s 26th year, Anthony Burke – a Professor of Architecture and Course Director for the UTS Master of Architecture course, will join James Fitzpatrick – Interior Design Lead at fitzpatrick + partners, Meryl Hare – Managing Director at the award-winning interior design practice Hare & Klein and Nick Hewson – Structural Engineer and Director of Arboralis – in wrangling through this year’s entries.
This afternoon, the Australian Timber Design Awards spoke to Andrew Dunn, the long-time organiser, who confirmed that entries for this year’s awards have been extended to July 11, 2025. Dunn said that the awards always attract a wide variety of entries, ranging from large mass timber projects like the Michael Kirkby building (winner of last year’s People’s Choice) to Irrawaddy House, which drew its inspiration from traditional Burmese delta houses.
“One of the most interesting projects last year was the MarraMarra shack – a true Grand Design,” Dunn said. “Winner of last year’s recycled timber category, it combines 200-year-old recycled ironbark telegraph poles and spotted gum in the exposed floor and ceiling post-and-beam system with pine plywood manufactured into laminated veneer lumber (LVL) to create a lightweight floor floating the waterway.”
Designed by Leopold Banchini Architects, the BAL-FZ-rated 2-bedroom, 1-bath dwelling floats above” a steep elevation at the junction of the Hawkesbury River and Berowra Creek – less than an hour from the centre of Sydney: “The shack is almost entirely constructed from timber,” according to the Swiss-based Leopold Banchini, who said two carpenters could only access the work site via boat: “The materials had to be small and light enough to fit on a barge and lifted without heavy machinery, timber was a perfect choice.”
What goes into a successful application? We spoke to a past judge!
According to David Rawlinson, a three-time judge of the awards, the key is to state how timber use positively contributes to a project’s sustainability. “For example, as a key element in Passivhaus design, how timber provides increased thermal resistance and hence reduces heating and cooling load, or the fact that timber reduces the mass of the building and hence the size of the substructure required.”
“Perhaps it’s the way that mass timber can help dematerialise an open plan office with exposed timber soffits, columns and beams with no finishes required, or the way that the use of Design for Manufacture and Assembly can help the building to be disassembled at the end of its life, hence providing a focus for circular design thinking.”
“There are many more that could be included, so to stand out from the crowd, it’s essential to focus on these additional advantages that the use of timber provides,” he said. “From a broader architectural perspective, it’s also important to highlight how the exemplary use of timber has contributed to the building’s essential essence.”
