Timber Construct and Timber Design Awards 2025

It's been a busy couple of days of talking all things timber, with Timber Construct Conference & Exhibition - 13-14 October 2025 and Australian Timber Design Awards.

Nick Hewson presented on timber and MMC as part of a day 1 session looking at innovations in lightweight framing. Barry Brunton CPEng CEng MICE spoke to his experiences from the digital side of things, while Louise Wallis gave updates on the productivity research being delivered through the Future Framing Initiative program. It was all well-chaired by Kersten Gentle and the feedback after was very positive.

The conference itself was opened by Rory Hunter who spoke to his personal journey and establishment of MODEL to deliver low-carbon buildings. Chethiya Ratnakara from Versobuild Pte Ltd gave insights into a large canopy project in Singapore as well as some proposed data centre projects which was fascinating.

There were some great presentations over the two days which we couldn't hope to share all of it, but a special mention to Jimmy Corric from NZ Strong Group with his presentation on the Air NZ Hanger 4, the longest timber arch in the world. It's a project we have some history with, but seeing it finished after so many years in development is amazing. Jimmy shared some brilliant insight into the temporary works and construction planning for such a technically demanding construction process, in a highly sensitive location. It was awesome to hear some refreshingly candid insight into the construction process and it was a great way to finish off the conference.

The final evening was given over to the Timber Design Awards, which we were lucky enough to be given the honour of being on the judges panel. There were some incredibly competitive categories, and it was hard to whittle some of them down to find a winner, but the overall winner was a unanimous choice with the judges. Congratulations to Archer Office for Boot Factory in Bondi Junction - there was so much to love about this one, from the extraordinary level of craftsmanship to giving a new life to a 150 year old building through careful insertions.

Also a thanks to Tyson Infanti from HASSLACHER NORICA TIMBER for organising the annual post-conference drinks on day 1. Always a great chance to unwind with like-minded timber enthusiasts!