Built by Nature’s Global Timber Prize 2025 winners unveiled

4 November 2025 Sustainable construction

Built by Nature recently announced the six winners and six commended buildings for its Built by Nature Prize 2025 – the Global Award for Responsible Timber Construction - at its London Summit, with PEFC-certified material playing a leading role across many projects.  

The Prize attracted nearly 400 applications from 39 countries and jurisdictions, spanning a wide range of building types, from housing and education to commercial buildings, infrastructure, and industrial facilities. The six prize-winning buildings chosen showed, “how our future can be built in harmony with nature.”

Building a future rooted in responsibility

All entries were assessed against Built by Nature’s Principles for Responsible Timber Construction. Endorsed by over 260 leading global organisations – including early signatories PEFC – these are seen as, ‘a global framework designed to ensure that growing demand for timber is met with environmental and social responsibility.’ 

Applicants were required to submit detailed information on construction materials, carbon targets, certification, and reuse strategies and were evaluated across five core principles, including ‘ensuring sustainable forest management, maximising the carbon storage potential of wood, and promoting a timber building bioeconomy.’

Award-winning projects showcase timber’s global potential

The six winning buildings were selected from a shortlist of 28 projects, involving independent assessors and an international panel of judges, including Mae-ling Lokko, Assistant Professor at Yale University’s School of Architecture, who said:

“Each of these projects shows how circular design and local ecosystems can come together to create buildings that are regenerative, inclusive, and deeply rooted in place. They are blueprints for a future we urgently need.” 

Two of the Award-winning buildings using PEFC-certified material included the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services HQ and Maryborough Fire and Rescue Station, Australia, that used locally sourced mass timber, processed and manufactured by Hyne and XLAM. The UK’s Black and White Building also featured structural timber elements including PEFC-certified mass timber and laminated veneer lumber (LVL), delivered by B&K Structures and designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley.

Black and White Building

Additionally, a third award winner - La Maison de la Réserve Ecologique in Epernay-sur-Seine, France, designed by Archipel Zéro - used locally sourced wood from PEFC-certified forests.

Commended projects demonstrate circularity and innovation

Hasletre – the new HQ for Save the Children in Oslo, Norway was commended. The four-storey office building used PEFC-certified mass timber supplied by Splitkon and is being hailed as the “world’s first demountable and fully reusable mass-timber office.” 

Hasletre Building

Paradise SE11, a six-storey, timber office building in the heart of London is also designed around a PEFC-certified mass timber structural frame supplied by Stora Enso. One of the UK’s largest mass timber office buildings, it is seen as marking a shift in what is possible with mass timber. 

A vision for a regenerative future

“This Prize celebrates the organisations driving real change around the world, transforming construction for a regenerative future,” said Built by Nature CEO Paul King, who also chaired the panel of judges. “These are not just buildings, they are bold, real-world demonstrations of what’s possible when design, material, and purpose align with the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction.” 

From award to awareness: timber on the global stage

The winners will feature in ‘Our Future: Built by Nature’, a new documentary by Open Planet Studios that follows the six winning projects and the value chains behind them. Narrated by Kevin McCloud, judge, UK architect and host of the popular TV show Grand Designs, the film features global perspectives and includes appearances by Sir David Attenborough and COP30 President Marina Silva. 

“These projects challenge outdated assumptions and show that timber is not only safe and sustainable, but also socially transformative,” says Kevin McCloud. From fire stations to social housing, they prove that wood can be the material of resilience, beauty, and bold innovation.” 

The film will be screened at the Museum of Art in São Paulo (MASP) on 8 November and officially premiere later at COP30 in Belém, Brazil.

A full list of award winning and commended projects can be found here.

Thumbnail image credits: Ed Reeve - Waugh Thistleton Architects and Oslotre Architects.