Dezeen promotion: the Wood Awards: Excellence in Architecture and Product Design is inviting architects and designers in the UK to submit entries for this year's competition.

The Wood Awards recognises buildings and furniture designs completed in the last two years that feature timber as a principle material. Entrants have until 26 May to submit their work.

First set up as the Carpenters Awards in 1971 and relaunched in its current guise in 2003, the competition is not-for-profit and offers free registration for entrants.

Wood Awards 2015 judges include RIBA Journal editor Hugh Pearman and London Design Guide editor Max Fraser.

Changes to this year's programme include a revision to the furniture category to encompass all areas of product design, renamed Furniture and Product as a result.

A student award within this category has also been introduced, with a £1,000 prize for the judges' winner and £500 given to a design voted for by the public.

Both the Furniture and Product and Buildings sections are split into a variety of categories for specific typologies, each with its own accolade.

The Arnold Laver Gold Award is given to an overall winner, with previous laureates including the Rothschild Foundation by Stephen Marshall Architects, The Hurlingham Club Outdoor Pool by David Morley Architects, and the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft by Adam Richards Architects.

Find out more and register to enter on the Wood Awards website before 26 May. Winners will be announced during a ceremony in London on 10 November. For updates about the awards, follow Wood Awards on Twitter.

Here's some more information from the organisers:

The Wood Awards: Excellence in Architecture and Product Design – 2015 call for entries is open

The Wood Awards: Excellence in Architecture and Product Design launches its 2015 call for entries with exciting new categories and a high calibre panel of judges that will be evaluating and awarding projects made out of the only naturally sustainable material in the world.

Architects and designers from around the United Kingdom are invited to enter their wood-based projects into The Wood Awards, and have until 26 May to submit their entries. There is no fee to enter.

Established in 1971, The Wood Awards recognises, encourages and promotes outstanding design, craftsmanship and installation using wood in projects throughout the UK. With permission from the owner, anyone associated with an eligible building or furniture project completed in the last two years, can enter. Judges travel to visit each of the shortlisted projects and physically view the shortlisted products to ensure a thorough, final evaluation.

2015 sees exciting changes with the Wood Awards including new judges, revised categories and a new website:

» The Wood Awards has revised the furniture category as Furniture and Product to encourage a larger group of designers who work in a variety of wood products. Within this category there is now a Student Award, recognising the value of student work in wood with £1500 to be won (£1,000 for winner and £500 for people's choice).

» For buildings, the Commercial & Public Access category has been divided into: Commercial & Leisure and Education & Public Sector. This year sees an additional Interiors category.

» The new chair of judges in the Furniture and Product category is Max Fraser. Max is a champion of design, working as a writer, curator and consultant to private and public bodies. He edits the London Design Guide under his publishing imprint Spotlight Press and, until recently, worked as deputy director of the London Design Festival.

The Wood Awards top prize, the Arnold Laver Gold Award, goes to the overall winner of winners. Previous Gold Award winners include: the Rothschild Foundation by Stephen Marshall Architects, The Hurlingham Club Outdoor Pool by David Morley Architects, and most recently, the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft by Adam Richards Architects.

Commenting on The Wood Awards, Andrew Laver says: "We are pleased to be associated with The Wood Awards for another year and are proud to sponsor the illustrious Gold Awards, which recognises the very best of what our industry has to offer. We will certainly be encouraging all our stakeholders – and the wider design and construction community – to take an interest and where possible get involved."

The full list of the 2015 categories:

Buildings

Commercial & Leisure
Education & Public Sector
Private
Existing Building
Small Project
Interiors

Furniture and Product

Bespoke
Production Made
Student Designer

Judging

As the original and leading competition focused on the material in use, the elite judging panel of independent professional experts and specialists not only judge the entries but also visit the shortlisted projects in person, making The Wood Awards as meaningful and rigorous a competition as possible.

Sponsors

The Wood Awards is made possible by the major sponsorship from: American Hardwood Export Council, Carpenters' Company, Wood for Good and TRADA.

Arnold Laver sponsors the Arnold Laver Gold Award which is the project that the judges deem to be the best of all the winners.

Other sponsors include: American Softwoods and Furniture Makers' Company, Timber Trade Federation & the British Wood Federation.

www.woodawards.com
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