Pictured receiving the Trophy Design Award at the Forest Industries Ireland Future Timber Design Awards at a ceremony at TU Dublin on 5 June was Clarenz Pedoche from Mullingar, (centre) with (from left) Joseph Little, head of Construction, School of Architecture, Building and Environment, TU Dublin; Des O’Toole, head of Marketing and Promotion at Coillte Forests; Mark McAuley, director of Forest Industries Ireland; Sameer Mehra, programme coordinator of the BSc Sustainable Timber Technology, and a lecturer in Timber Technologies and Wood Manufacturing at the School of Architecture, Building and Environment at TU Dublin; and Damien Cross, lecturer, Timber Technologies and Wood Manufacturing, School of Architecture, Building and Environment, TU Dublin.

Mullingar student honoured at timber design awards

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A Mullingar student was one of two from Westmeath announced as TU Dublin winners at the Future Timber Design Awards, a new initiative by Forest Industries Ireland (FII).

Clarenz Pedoche from Mullingar is a student of architecture at TU Dublin, and Athlone student Evan is a student of sustainable timber technology.

The Future Timber Design Awards have been developed by FII to encourage sustainable and innovative timber design and construction. The programme helps bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world application, equipping students of relevant disciplines with the latest knowledge and skills in using timber in construction.

Clarenz was presented with the Trophy Design award for designing the competition trophy.

The students were tasked with creatively exploring the potential of timber as a primary structural and architectural material. Their projects needed to focus on using homegrown timber as the main structural element, while responding to real-world constraints and design challenges.

Commending the Westmeath awardees, Dr Sameer Mehra, programme coordinator of the BSc Sustainable Timber Technology and lecturer in Timber Technologies and Wood Manufacturing at the School of Architecture, Building and Environment at TU Dublin, said: “We’re extremely proud of Evan Farrell, Clarenz Pedoche and all the winners of the first year of exciting awards. Their projects are powerful examples of how the next generation of architects, architectural technologists, and timber technologists are rethinking sustainability through timber design.

“By using homegrown Irish timber in creative and expressive ways, the overall winners have demonstrated how locally sourced materials can reduce environmental impact while helping to create a built environment that is both sustainable and deeply connected to place.”

The entries were judged by TU Dublin lecturers and FII representatives. The overall winner received a Future Timber Design Awards trophy and a €600 prize, while runners-up across different categories received cash prizes, with certificates presented to all participants.

Applicants were given 18 weeks to conceptualise and design their projects and were supported via Q&A drop-in sessions during the design phase, guest lectures on timber-led construction, and access to digital resources on sustainable timber systems.

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