Cygnum Timber Frame picks up five awards in one week

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The firm picked up four awards at the UK Structural Timber Awards, held in Birmingham on October 19, winning best low energy project and best use of timber frame for the Enterprise Centre at the University of East Anglia, a passive-certified building built with local timber that makes extensive use of natural materials, and has been dubbed the UK’s greenest building.

“In terms of a project that would test a timber frame business, this had everything, from sourcing the correct raw materials — primarily Corsican pine from local forests — to huge design and engineering challenges and an ambitious site programme that included insulating and making the building airtight,” said John Desmond, managing director of Cygnum. “That said, the project ran extremely smoothly, because the whole team’s ethos was a really collaborative one.”

Cygnum picked up two ‘highly commended’ prizes at the Structural Timber Frame Awards — client of the year went to the University of East Anglia for the same project, while Cygnum was also highly commended in the education category for Burry Port Community School, for which the firm constructed a new arts and performance space using the Austrian brettstapel system of glue-free timber construction. The project also made extensive use of local timber.

Both the Enterprise Centre and Burry Port were designed by leading passive architecture firm Architype, with whom Cygnum has collaborated extensively.

“There’s a similar mindset in both companies when it comes to sustainability in building, and I suppose a lot of trust and confidence have been built up over a large number of projects,” John Desmond said.

Cygnum also picked up the award for best use of timber at this year’s Offsite Awards, once again for the Enterprise Centre.

The Offsite Awards recognise the best in prefabricated construction and building design.

“For us as a business, these awards are a great recognition for the whole team involved and for the quality of work they do. We have exceptional people here at Cygnum, and it’s great for them to hear that from outside of these four walls,” John Desmond added.