2025 Wood in Architecture Award Winners
From biophilic schools and carbon-cutting labs to culturally rich civic spaces, this year’s winners showcase the benefits, versatility, and impact of building with wood.
This year’s Wood in Architecture Award winners, announced by Think Wood’s partner WoodWorks in June, highlight the evolving role of wood in American architecture—not just as a building material, but as a force for resilience, community, and sustainable design. From coast to coast, this year’s winning projects reflect the ingenuity of developers and design teams who are turning wood’s natural warmth, durability, and environmental benefits into transformative places to live, learn, gather, and grow.
“These projects don’t just perform well—they tell a story,” said Jennifer Cover, president and CEO of WoodWorks. “They show how wood can meet ambitious climate goals, elevate human experience, and adapt to the complex needs of our communities.”
Selected by an independent jury of architects and engineers, the 2025 winners were recognized for design excellence, inventive wood use, sustainability, and broader market impact. The result is a cross-section of innovation—spanning learning centers, laboratories, housing, and civic spaces—that redefines what’s possible in timber design.
154 Broadway
This hybrid mass timber/light-frame Passive House building delivers net zero-ready housing that uses exposed wood to create a unique, biophilic environment. The five‑story structure combines bearing and non-bearing light‑frame stud walls with exposed CLT floor and ceiling panels left visible in units and common areas—highlighting a natural wood aesthetic while providing thermal mass benefits.
Architect: Utile, Inc.
Structural Engineer: RSE Associates
General Contractor: Haycon, Inc.
Developer/Owner: Construction Managers & Developers, LLC
Adimab Laboratory
Set in a New Hampshire forest, this biotech research facility reimagines the laboratory with cedar-clad mass timber, delivering a warm, exposed-wood interior—and the biophilic benefits that come with it—to its occupants. The result: A high-performance science facility and workplace that cultivates calm, clarity, and connection.
Architect: Sylvia Richards Practice for Architecture; Christopher Smith
Structural Engineer: WSP USA Building Structures
General Contractor: ReArch Company
Developer/Owner: Adimab LLC
The Blake School Early Learning Center
Designed with young learners in mind, this light-filled structure embraces exposed wood to create a welcoming, sensory-rich educational environment. The glulam was selected for the structural framing for its sustainability, natural aesthetics, and ability to create open, high‑ceilinged spaces that support the Reggio Emilia–inspired pedagogy while reducing embodied carbon.
Architect: HGA
Structural Engineer: HGA
General Contractor: Mortenson
DeveloperOwner: The Blake School
California College of the Arts Expansion
Studio Gang’s expansion for CCA integrates mass timber into a forward-thinking academic setting, advancing the school’s commitment to sustainable design. The hybrid mass timber pavilions—complete with striking timber-steel hybrid eccentrically braced frame (EBF) exoskeletons—showcase a pioneering seismic‑resilient CLT structure in California.
Architect: Studio Gang
Structural Engineer: Arup
General Contractor: Hathaway Dinwiddie
DeveloperOwner: California College of the Arts
Kaiser Borsari Hall
At Western Washington University, this mass timber science building unites state-of-the-art laboratories with wood’s warmth and low carbon footprint. Constructed with exposed glulam columns and beams and CLT floor plates and clad in dark wood treated using the ancient Japanese technique of shou sugi ban, it reduces embodied carbon by over 60%, supports the university’s net‑zero energy goals, and serves as one of the first zero‑energy STEM buildings in the United States.
Architect: Perkins&Will
Structural Engineer: Coughlin Porter Lundeen
General Contractor: Mortenson
Developer/Owner: Western Washington University
Kresge College Expansion
Nestled in a redwood forest, this UC Santa Cruz project uses wood to strengthen community, reduce environmental impact, and honor its natural surroundings. Using prefabricated CLT floors, glulam beams, and light-frame wood shear walls, the hybrid mass timber buildings protect mature trees through precise siting, minimize onsite waste via off‑site construction, and leave the timber structure exposed to express its connection to the landscape.
Architect: Studio Gang
Structural Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates; MME Civil + Structural Engineering
General Contractor: Swinerton Builders
Developer/Owner: University of California, Santa Cruz
T3 RiNo
This next-gen office building in Denver’s RiNo district demonstrates the scalability and beauty of mass timber for commercial development. The exposed wood structure—comprising black‑spruce glulam posts and CLT panels—complements the design’s refined industrial aesthetic and helped the client pre‑lease the entire office space, exemplifying the project’s Class A workspace ambitions.
Architects: Pickard Chilton; DLR Group
Structural Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates
General Contractor: Whiting-Turner
Developer/Owners: Hines / Ivanhoé Cambridge / McCaffery Interests
Trinity University Dicke Hall + Business and Humanities District
This academic expansion unites cross-disciplinary learning in mass timber structures that invite daylight, dialogue, and community. It employs prefabricated CLT panels—a first for San Antonio—and glulam beams to create a lightweight yet expressive framework while showcasing built‑in fire safety, carbon savings, and biophilic benefits.
Architect: Lake Flato Architects
Structural Engineer: Datum Engineers
General Contractor: Turner Construction
Developer/Owner: Trinity University
Washington School for the Deaf
The Divine Academic Building and Hunter Gymnasium celebrate deaf culture through design, using wood to create acoustically sensitive, human-scaled spaces. Featuring glulam columns and beams with 3‑ply CLT floors and ceilings, the mass timber system is cost‑competitive, enhances acoustic control, and offers a warm, sign‑language–friendly environment that fosters visual connectivity and DeafSpace principles.
Architect: Mithun
Structural Engineer: PCS Structural Solutions
General Contractor: Skanska
Developer/Owner: Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth
These projects reflect a deep understanding of wood’s capacity to shape not only high-performance buildings, but also more connected and restorative environments,” Cover said. “They are proof that sustainability and design excellence can go hand in hand.
