Advancing Timber Innovation in Aotearoa: The Impact of WIDE Trust’s 2024 Support
The WIDE Trust is proud to continue its long-standing support of innovative timber education and research through the 2024 Timber Technology Thesis Vertical Teaching Programme, led by Professor Andrew Barrie at the School of Architecture and Planning. This year’s project once again highlighted how strategic funding can enable hands-on learning, industry collaboration, and the advancement of sustainable building technologies.
Supporting Future-Focused Timber Design
The approved grant of $14,800 funded a design-and-build project undertaken by Master of Architecture student Billy Pengelly. Billy’s work builds on a multi-year research trajectory investigating how New Zealand’s lower-grade and irregular timbers can be structurally utilised through innovative jointing systems.
His project extended earlier research by thesis students Ethan Aish (2022) and Gregory Mann (2023). Ethan adapted CNC fabrication methodologies to better suit lower-grade timber prone to warping, while Gregory refined this into a joint system that absorbs inconsistencies without compromising structural integrity. Billy pushed the thinking further by testing whether these wedged-joint techniques could be applied to the irregular trunks commonly thinned from commercial forests, creating new opportunities for using a highly underutilised resource.
From Prototype to Installation
Billy developed and prototyped the system in early 2024 before collaborating with a cohort of fourth-year Timber Technology students who joined him in the workshops during September, October, and November. The finished structure was transported as prefabricated components to Summerhill Recreational Park in Papamoa, where it was successfully installed in December 2024.
The project is the latest in a long-term partnership between the School of Architecture & Planning and Summerhill. The relationship provides significant learning benefits, students gain insight into how timber structures weather and evolve over time, while Summerhill receives ongoing enhancements and maintenance from successive student groups.
Strong Industry and Community Support
The structure benefitted from generous industry contributions.
Summerhill Timbers Ltd supplied all timber, milled from their own exotic plantation.
Cass Goodwin of Batchelar McDougall Consulting provided engineering support at a heavily discounted rate.
Resene sponsored coatings for the project.
Because Billy successfully used the thinned and irregular timbers as the primary structural material, no additional material sponsorships were required.
Looking Ahead: Awards and Future Projects
The completed structure has been landscaped, professionally photographed, and entered into the 2025 Best Awards, with a submission to the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) Awards to follow. This continues a strong tradition of recognition, 2024 saw Josh Bovill’s WIDE Trust-funded Summerhill Whare win a Gold Pin at the Best Awards, and earlier Summerhill structures received an NZIA Waikato & Bay of Plenty Award in the Small Project category.
Work is already underway on a new, adventurous WIDE Trust-supported thesis structure scheduled for completion in late 2025.
Strengthening Timber Education in Aotearoa
Support from the WIDE Trust has been pivotal in advancing research into timber jointing innovation and in strengthening teaching across the architecture programme. The 2024 grant has contributed not only to successful thesis work but also to the ongoing development of a wider timber-focused curriculum. A new timber-centred design studio for second-year Bachelor of Architectural Studies students is set to launch soon, also supported by the Trust.
The School of Architecture & Planning expresses its deep appreciation for the WIDE Trust's continued commitment to fostering cutting-edge, practical, and future-focused timber research and education in New Zealand.
The WIDE Trust is dedicated to advancing education, innovation, and excellence within Aotearoa’s wood-based industries. By supporting research, teaching, and hands-on initiatives across the country, the Trust is helping grow the next generation of leaders in timber technology, forestry, engineering, and design.