Eight Prairie Wood Design Awards were handed out at Alberta’s 8th annual Wood WORKS! ceremony.

Chosen from a pool of more than forty entries, the winning projects were honoured for how they advance the use of wood in construction through design, advocacy and innovation.

The jury included Larry McFarland, principal at McFarland Marceau Architects, Daryl Procinsky, creativity activator at Design Revolution and Vedran Skopac, architect at Manasc Isaac.

“The calibre of entries was extremely high this year, making the selection process challenging for the jury,” says Rory Koska, program director of the Wood WORKS! Alberta program. “We have seen an increase in innovative wood buildings from the designers and increased commitment from clients choosing to build with wood.”

The winning projects include the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, Junction 9 Yoga and Pilates studio in Alberta and G House, Qualico Family Centre and St. Vital Park Pavilion all in Manitoba.

The Winnipeg Folk Festival Village Tower in Manitoba also won an award, while the River of Death & Discovery Dinosaur Museum Society won the Wood Advocate Award on behalf of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, a project for which Fast & Epp/StructureCraft won this year’s Engineer Advocate Award.

The ceremony also celebrated recent regulatory changes to allow six-storey wood buildings in Alberta, expected to be permitted as of May 1.

St. Vital Park Pavilion – Image courtesy of Lisa Stinner-Kun (CNW Group/Wood WORKS! Alberta)