A teardrop-shaped caravan and a triangular apartment, both built using wood, are in the running for a design award that celebrates this living material.

Wood salvaged from a home destroyed in the Christchurch earthquake gets a second-time showing in a caravan crafted, appropriately, in the shape of a teardrop. It was created by Sarah  Pezaro who used salvaged native timber, including heart rimu, in the detailing. The caravan is a finalist in the Wood & Fibre Creativity category of the NZ Wood- Resene Timber Design Awards.

The awards celebrate innovative architectural and engineering designs using wood. Other categories include Residential Architectural Excellence, NZ Specialty Timber Award, Interior Innovation and Multi-storey Timber Buildings.

A family bach in Hanmer Springs, by Cymon Allfrey Architects, is a finalist in both the Residential Architectural Excellence and Interior Innovation Award. The house is built as a retreat for an intergenerational family and uses stained and unfinished cedar which will weather over time as the family grows and evolves alongside it.

Another double-category nominee (in Residential Architectural Excellence as well as Interior Innovation) is The Origami House by Will Tatton Architecture in Mount Maunganui. The architects transformed a 1960s wooden Beazley House into a contemporary home, by adding new redwood cladding and removing the flat ceiling to expose the ‘origami-like beams’.

New to the awards this year is the Multi-storey Timber Buildings category. One of the finalists is at 83 Abel Smith Street in Wellington. This residential apartment with cedar cladding is built on a slender 122m2 triangular sloping section in Te Aro and was designed by Huw Parslow of Archaus with engineering by Silvester Clark.

Winners will be announced at a gala awards dinner at the Grand Millennium Hotel in Auckland on September 20, 2018.

For a full list of finalists visit: nzwood.co.nz