Homerton College’s Dining Hall, designed by Feilden Fowles and built by Barnes Construction, has triumphed in the 2022 Wood Awards, winning the Gold Award in a field of 200 entrants.
Established in 1971, the Wood Awards is the UK’s premier competition for excellence in architecture and product design in wood. The awards recognise outstanding design, craftsmanship and installation. At the awards ceremony at the Carpenters' Hall in London on 23 November 2022, the Homerton project won the 'Education and Public Sector' building category, and a Structural Award, and went on to win the Gold Award for the competition.
“Elegant and impressive, this dining hall celebrates the integrity and inherent beauty of its materials and craftsmanship, creating a space which is both inspiring and functional for students.” - Wood Awards nomination
Homerton’s dining hall and its associated buttery are bright, airy spaces by day, and transform into a ceremonial setting for formal evening meals. The hall itself uses long sweet chestnut glulam trusses, echoing the hammerbeam ceilings of a traditional hall in a slender and elegant modern form. The trusses are held together by wooden pegs: the compressive strength of these cross-beams is used to transfer the heavy weight of the butterfly roof to the vertical columns each side.
