In a powerful demonstration of timber’s role in delivering sustainable, high-quality public architecture, the Urban Nature Project at the Natural History Museum (NHM) has been honoured with the prestigious Gold Award at the Wood Awards 2025. The London-based scheme, designed by Feilden Fowles in collaboration with landscape architects J&L Gibbons, was unanimously recognised as the UK’s outstanding new timber project, also securing the award for the Education and Public Sector category.
The project is an “enchanting transformation” of five acres of previously underused museum grounds into an accessible, biodiverse urban oasis. Nestled within this re-landscaped environment are two exquisite new buildings: the Garden Kitchen visitor café and the Nature Activity Centre for youth learning and research. These structures are more than just functional spaces; they are powerful physical examples of the museum’s environmental mission.
The buildings’ triumph lies in their seamless integration with the landscape and their commitment to low-embodied carbon construction. The design strategy championed locally sourced, low-impact materials, most notably UK-grown Douglas fir and British limestone, significantly supporting regional supply chains and local craftsmanship.
The visitor café, designed to welcome the public and complement the historic Waterhouse masterpiece behind it, features a distinctive structural combination.
- Structure: It employs a robust Douglas fir glulam timber frame working in conjunction with a load-bearing British limestone masonry façade. The combination provides an elegant contrast between the warm, expressed timber and the solid, cool stone.
- Roof Design: The building is topped with a stepped roof featuring a glazed lantern and strategically placed operable panels, enabling passive design principles such as excellent natural ventilation.
The education pavilion, designed to be a quiet and immersive space, takes on a simpler, barn-like form with a deep connection to its surroundings.
- Roof: A highlight is its dramatic, asymmetric pitched roof, which is formed from solid Douglas fir and artfully clad with Western Red Cedar shingles. This deep roof projection provides sheltered outdoor seating—essential for outdoor learning—while simultaneously celebrating the capture and reuse of rainwater.
- Structure and Use: The carefully detailed, efficient timber structures are fully expressed throughout the interior, creating legible and warm spaces for classes, scientific research, and activities aimed at fostering environmental stewardship among young people.
This use of exposed, protected timber structures, which incorporate simple, economic joinery, was a defining factor in the judging. Jim Greaves, principal of Hopkins Architects and lead Buildings judge, praised the scheme, noting, “Throughout, the timber is visible but protected. Light and elegant, using simple, economical joinery, we create legible, highly refined buildings that are at one with their setting.”
The complexity and quality of the project were achieved through a high degree of collaboration across the design and construction team. Feilden Fowles’ vision was realised with specialist input from:
- Structural Engineering: engineersHRW
- Specialist Timber Design & Subcontracting: Xylotek
- Main Contractor: Walter Lilly
- Landscape Architects: J&L Gibbons
The use of locally sourced Douglas fir, some of which was UK-grown, along with the application of traditional yet precise joinery techniques, ensures the project not only minimises its carbon footprint but also supports the wider UK forestry and timber processing industry.
The recognition of the Urban Nature Project, which beat over 80 other buildings across the UK to claim the Gold Award, underscores a growing shift towards wood as the material of choice for sustainable construction.
David Hopkins, CEO of Timber Development UK (TDUK), the lead organiser of the Wood Awards, underscored this message: “The UK’s long and proud tradition of timber construction is powerfully reflected in this year’s Gold Award winner… It is a project that brings our natural heritage – sustainable forestry, healthy woodlands, and exceptional craftsmanship – into the heart of our national heritage in an outstanding public and educational setting.”
The competition also celebrated other projects demonstrating timber’s versatility, from the innovative CLT structure of ‘The Armadillo’ (a Small Project winner) to the residential excellence of Chowdhury Walk. Awards for New Wave House and Paradise in the Sustainability and Structural categories further highlighted wood’s credentials in pioneering a low-carbon future. The Wood Awards continue to be an essential platform for showcasing how the judicious use of wood can deliver both aesthetic beauty and genuine environmental responsibility in the modern built environment.
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