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Student Wood Awards Go to Dublin and Cork Colleges
- 17 July 2013
Mark Pringle and Philip Ryan, representing Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) won the architecture section of the 2013 Third Level Student Wood Awards, announced recently. The design award also went to Dublin with the UCD student Donal Groarke emerging as the winner for a project based in Dolphin House, Dublin's second largest public housing estate.
Karen Woods, Mark Pringle (DIT), Philip Ryan (DIT), Donal Magner (WMF), Donal Groarke (UCD), Minister Tom Hayes T.D., Nick Bailly (CIT).
Nick Bailey, Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) won the engineering award for the innovative use of wood – solid and laminated – in designing a footbridge for a forest setting. These fought off stiff competition, especially from traditional high achieving colleges in wood design including Queen’s University, NUI Galway, GMIT Letterfrack and University of Ulster.
Tom Hayes TD, Minister of State with responsibility for forestry presented the awards to the three winning students as well as special commendations to Genevieve Doonan, NUI Galway, Andras Dankhazi, UCD and Anthony O’Neill, Letterfrack College. Speaking at the Awards, Gerard Murphy, Managing Director of Coillte Forest said, “having been there at its inception in 2006, Coillte is very proud to again be the main sponsor of the student woods awards. 2013 has seen 18 entries representing nine colleges throughout Ireland, all of whom demonstrated a high standard and an appreciation of wood.
“We are proud to continue our association with the Awards as part of an ongoing campaign to promote the use of wood. In Coillte we know we are biased but what other material combines the natural beauty, versatility and sustainable credentials of wood, particularly wood which is grown and processed here in Ireland?
“Many of us in Ireland are lucky enough to live near a forest, which can be enjoyed for recreation or its habitat value. But that forest also provides a valuable resource with which we can develop green and truly sustainable building and design projects. Congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to seeing many of your projects using wood and wood products from Coillte forests in the future.”
Duncan Stewart praised the students who participated in the wood awards in his address at the awards but was critical of many Irish third level colleges who he said “treat timber as a marginal medium instead of placing it at the heart of architecture, engineering and design courses”.
He stressed the importance of wood as the most sustainable structural and design material in the world. “I again throw out a challenge to third level colleges to make timber mainstream in their courses, which is not happening at the moment. In my role as chairman of the judging panel I have been impressed by the work carried out by the students, but they need greater support from their colleges.”
Paul Harvey, chairman of the Wood Marketing Federation thanked the main sponsor Coillte for once again supporting the awards. “Sponsorship is vital to ensure the success of the awards and I wish to thank Coillte and our other supporters, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Society of Irish Foresters,” he said. He paid a special tribute to the participating colleges and students who took part in the event.
The winning engineering project by Nick Bailey is a 14-metre bridge with an oak deck structure. The deck plate is a softwood glulam system and the judges agreed that the design should be spectacular in a recreational forest setting. “The overall form is a cable stayed type, inspired by Santiago Callatrava's 'Samuel Beckett Bridge' in Dublin,” said a jubilant Nick Bailey who thanked Brian O’Rourke, lecturer and course co-ordinator at CIT.
The DIT winning architecture project entitled ‘Design for disassembly’ is for a five-storey development, constructed mainly in wood including the primary structure of solid load bearing panels – laminated without using chemical fixing – prefabricated external cladding and the internal furniture, based on Japanese wood joinery techniques. The project was overseen by Sima Rouholamin whose DIT students have performed consistently well since the awards began in 2006.
Design winner Donal Groarke emphasised the importance of community partnership in his Dolphin’s House community project. “In collaboration with residents, community groups, procurement bodies and manufacturers, I am exploring the potential for digital fabrication as part of the regeneration process of existing housing estates,” he said. “The structure will provide a space for performance, community games, creative work groups, community organisations and activists to project their voice.”
