The timber structure floats above the sloped site, overlooking Marramarra Creek. (Photo Credit: Rory Gardiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDesigned by Leopold Banchini Architects, the BAL-FZ-rated 2-bedroom, 1-bath dwelling floats above\u201d a steep elevation at the junction of the Hawkesbury River and Berowra Creek \u2013 less than an hour from the centre of Sydney: \u201cThe shack is almost entirely constructed from timber,\u201d according to the Swiss-based Leopold Banchini, who said two carpenters could only access the work site via boat: \u201cThe materials had to be small and light enough to fit on a barge and lifted without heavy machinery, timber was a perfect choice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What goes into a successful application? We spoke to a past judge!<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
According to David Rawlinson, a three-time judge of the awards, the key is to state how timber use positively contributes to a project\u2019s sustainability. \u201cFor example, as a key element in Passivhaus design, how timber provides increased thermal resistance and hence reduces heating and cooling load, or the fact that timber reduces the mass of the building and hence the size of the substructure required.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPerhaps it\u2019s the way that mass timber can help dematerialise an open plan office with exposed timber soffits, columns and beams with no finishes required, or the way that the use of Design for Manufacture and Assembly can help the building to be disassembled at the end of its life, hence providing a focus for circular design thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are many more that could be included, so to stand out from the crowd, it\u2019s essential to focus on these additional advantages that the use of timber provides,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom a broader architectural perspective, it\u2019s also important to highlight how the exemplary use of timber has contributed to the building\u2019s essential essence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The host of Grand Designs Australia is one of five judges for this\u00a0year\u2019s\u00a0Australian Timber Design Awards. Now\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a026th year, Anthony Burke \u2013 a Professor of Architecture and Course Director for the UTS Master of Architecture course, will join James Fitzpatrick \u2013 Interior Design Lead at fitzpatrick + partners, Meryl Hare \u2013 Managing Director at the award-winning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[3,38,50,113,88,37,85,84,54,83,59,56,82],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-26223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-architecture","8":"category-architecture-and-design","9":"category-australia","10":"category-australian-capital-territory","11":"category-awards","12":"category-building-and-construction","13":"category-new-south-wales","14":"category-northern-territory","15":"category-queensland","16":"category-south-australia","17":"category-tasmania","18":"category-victoria","19":"category-western-australia"},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jason","display_name":"Jason Ross","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26225,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26223\/revisions\/26225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26223"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=26223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timberdesignawards.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/marramarra-shack-leopold-banchini-architects_17-2-1024x828.jpg\")