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WoodWorks Announces 2023 Winners of Annual Wood Design Awards

Locust Grove-Lead Leon de Primmer.jpg — de Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop's Locust Grove Pavilion in Louisville emulates the porches of Georgian farmhouses, combining limestone walls with a low-slung glulam roof canopy that minimizes visual impact on the landscape while providing unobstructed views. *Photo courtesy de Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop*

Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit WoodWorks – Wood Products Council has announced the winners of its 2023 Wood Design Awards, which honor excellence and innovation in American building projects that utilize mass timber, heavy timber, light-frame, and hybrid building design. This year’s winners represent a wide swath of scale and function, including a 19-story tall timber tower in Milwaukee, an open-air events pavilion in St. Louis, and a mixed-use prototype structure in Portland, Oregon, from Design Vanguard firm Waechter Architecture. A handful of this year’s winning projects have previously been featured by RECORD, most recently the Houston Endowment Headquarters,

Projects were selected by an independent award jury which included Corey Martin, principal of Portland-based of Hacker Architects; Cheung Chan, associate and architect at Iowa City-based Neumann Monson Architects, and Lauren Wingo, senior structural engineer at Arup.

"Investing in a more sustainable future deserves to be recognized. It’s an honor to celebrate design teams that inspire the broader AEC community by challenging the expectations of modern design and construction,” said WoodWorks president and CEO Jennifer Cover. “This year's winning projects represent the work of building designers from across the nation who are demonstrating the incredible potential of wood.”

Spread across ten diverse national categories including Beauty of Wood and Institutional Wood Design, the winners also include twelve superlative wood buildings recognized for regional excellence.

See below for a full list of this year's winners.

National Winners

Commercial Wood Design—Mid-Rise: Mississippi Workshop | Portland, Oregon

Architect/Developer: Waechter Architecture
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Contractors: Waechter Architecture, Owen Gabbert, LLC, and Cutwater PDX

Mississippi Workshop Waechter Architecture

Mississippi Workshop by Waechter Architecture. Photo © Lara Swimmer

Commercial Wood Design—Low-Rise: High Tech Client Campus | Mountain View, California

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Architect: WRNS Studio
Structural Engineer: Holmes
Contractor: Rudolph and Sletten

High Tech Client Campus by WRNS Studio. Photo © Bruce Damonte

Wood in Schools: San Jacinto College Anderson-Ball Classroom Building | Pasadena, Texas

Architect: Kirksey Architecture
Developer/Owner: San Jacinto College
Structural Engineer
Contactor: Tellepsen

San Jacinto College Anderson-Ball Classroom Building by Kirksey Architecture. Photo © Joe Aker

Multi-Family Wood Design: Central Lofts | Portland, Oregon

Architect: Jones Architecture
Developer/Owner: BlackRock
Structural Engineer: Froelich Engineers
Contractor: R&H Construction

Central Lofts by Jones Architecture. Photo © David Papazian

Wood in Government Buildings: Winthrop Library | Winthrop, Washington

Architect: Jones Architecture with Prentiss Balance Wickline
Developer/Owner: Friends of the Winthrop Library
Structural Engineer: Methow Engineering
Contractor: Impel Construction

Winthrop Library by Johnston Architects. Photo © Benjamin Drummond

Institutional Wood Design: Locust Grove Event Pavilion | Louisville

Architect: de Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop
Developer/Owner: Locust Grove
Structural Engineer: Structural Services
Contractor: Woodbine Construction

Locust Grove Event Pavilion by de Leon Primmer Workshop

Locust Grove Event Pavilion by de Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop. Photo © de Leon & Primmer

Sustainable Wood Design: The Ecology School | Saco, Maine

Architects: Simons Architects, Kaplan Thompson, and Briburn Architecture
Developer/Owner: The Ecology School
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Contractor: Zachau Construction

The Ecology School by Simons Architects and Kaplan Thompson. Photography © Trent Bell

Beauty of Wood: Patricia Reser Center for the Arts | Beaverton, Oregon

Architect: Ospis Architecture
Developer/Owner: City of Beaverton
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Contractor: Skanska

Patricia Reser Center for the Arts by Ospis Architecture. Photo © Josh Partree

Durable and Adaptable Wood Structures: Maclac Building D | San Francisco

Architect: Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects and Peter Logan Architecture and Design
Developer/Owner: Comstock Realty Partners
Structural Engineer: Gregory P. Luth and Associates
Contractor: Rod Heisler Construction

Maclac Building D by Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects and Peter Logan Architecture and Design. Photo © Billy Hustace

Innovation: Ascent | Milwaukee

Architect: Korb + Associates
Developer/Owners: New Land Enterprises and Weichmann Enterprises
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Contractors: C.D. Smith Construction and Catalyst Construction

Ascent by Korb + Associates. Photo © CD Smith Construction

Regional Excellence Winners

INTRO | Cleveland

Architect: Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
Developer: Harbor Bay Ventures
Structural Engineer: Forefront Structural Engineers
Contractor: Panzica Construction

Idaho Central Credit Union Area | Moscow, Idaho

Architects: Ospis Architecture and Hastings+Chivetta Architects
Developer/Owner: University of Idaho
Structural Engineers: KPFF Consulting Engineers (base building); StructureCraft (roof structure)
Contractor: Hoffman Construction

1030 Music Row | Nashville