Six winners of the Western Red Cedar Architectural Design Awards

Here are the six Western Red Cedar Architectural Design Award winners, the competition is sponsored by the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association to recognize creativity and innovative design by using one of the world’s most unique building materials, Western Red Cedar.

The award winners offer a range of creative approaches using Western Red Cedar… They also demonstrated the opportunities to use cedar for different program requirements and budgets. Cedar wasn’t just used as conventional cladding – it also provided a structural purpose, a refined level of interior finish, or a compelling material detail that enhanced the overall design.

Katherine Chia, a jury member and partner at Desai/Chia Architecture

Architects entered commercial, residential and other building projects that included community centers, medical facilities, university buildings, churches and private residences. Projects were judged by a three-member architect jury for their use of Western Red Cedar to reinforce consistent interior and exterior themes in boosting the overall design.

The quality of the projects was very impressive and the beauty of Western Red Cedar really brought them to life… The talent of the architects and their builder partners combined with the authenticity and durability of wood really made for lasting work.

Jack Draper, managing director of the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association

Winners of the Architectural Design Awards were:

+ Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson | Combs Point Residence, Ovid, N.Y.
A center of activity and quiet retreat for a family that treasures life on the lake, Combs Point is a series of Western Red Cedar wood clad buildings that stretches through a forested glen leading to the head of a waterfall.

+ Architect: Mark Cavagnero Associates | Bernal Park Restroom Building, Pleasanton, Calif.
Designed to fit seamlessly into a picturesque park setting, the building appears elegant and residential in scale while at the same time is durable and enduring. The building is wrapped in horizontal cedar siding boards covered with a semi-transparent stain and graffiti coating.

+ Architect: Chadboure + Doss Architects | Wood Block Residence, Mercer Island, Wash.
A major reconstruction of a 1962 residence, the redesign roots the house to its sloping wooded site and provides a protective shelter for family life. Western Red Cedar tongue-and-grove planks clad the existing painted Hemlock ceiling to bring appropriately natural warmth to an otherwise modern pallet of materials that includes aluminum, steel and plaster.

+ Architects: Albert de Pineda Álvarez and Manuel Brullet Tenas | Research Medical Complex of Barcelona
This elliptical building on the promenade along Barcelona’s seafront features a double-skin façade that protects it from direct solar radiation while still allowing light to pass. More than 44,000 red cedar slats make up the outer protective skin and create its unique geometric appearance.

+ Architects: Bureau B+B | Pilot Dwelling Het Entreeheuis, Netherlands
An entrance house located at the gateway of the Groote Scheere country estate built from sustainable and lightweight red cedar coated with a black oil color. The roof opens up to the landscape to become a private outdoor space. It is the first of 10 houses to be built at the estate.

+ Architects: Alfred Waugh Architect | First People’s House, Victoria, B.C.
This multi-purpose education facility at the University of Victoria, B.C. is the only major wood building on campus. The post-and-beam structure inspired by the Coast Salish longhouse is clad in clear Western Red Cedar and houses a student union, Elders lounges, study areas, classrooms and ceremonial spaces. The registered LEED project targets gold.

+ About Western Red Cedar Lumber Association

Western Red Cedar Lumber Association (WRCLA) is a Vancouver, B.C. based non-profit association known as “the voice of the cedar industry.” Founded in 1954, the association operates architect advisory and technical service programs throughout the U.S. and Canada. It offers extensive resources for architects and consumers.

Western Red Cedar is one of nature’s truly remarkable building materials. Not only does it have distinctive beauty, natural durability and centuries of proven performance, Western Red Cedar is the ultimate green product. It produces fewer greenhouse gases, generates less water and air pollution, requires less energy to produce than alternatives and comes from a renewable and sustainable resource.