Image credit: A Forest Datum by Design + Make Architectural Association.
Photo © Design + Make Architectural Association.
A FOREST DATUM, an experimental raised walkway constructed at Hooke Park by students of the Design + Make Postgraduate Programme, has won the Bespoke Award at the 2025 Wood Awards.
The project showcases a groundbreaking structural system that harnesses the strength of natural growth timber forks, locally sourced from routine forest pruning. Typically dismissed as waste due to their small size, these beech branches offer great strength thanks to their natural geometry. A Forest Datum demonstrates how this undervalued material can be elevated into an innovative architectural component.
To create the datum, each fork undergoes a set of processing stages — de-barking, seasoning, cutting and pine tar treatment — before being standardised using a bespoke, low-tech jig. This jig encodes the cell geometry and guides a series of precision cuts, transforming each irregular branch into a repeatable building element. The resulting components are assembled without mechanical fixings: the geometry of the forks locks each piece in place within a durable frame of dimensioned cedar boards and battens. The datum is then pre-tensioned using Dyneema cables, placing the beech elements into compression and creating a robust, lightweight platform.
By using timber pruned from the forest canopy — a practice that supports long-term forest health — the project connects material innovation with responsible woodland stewardship and proposes a new role for technology in making use of overlooked natural forms.
Beyond the walkway at Hooke Park, the system’s logic offers broad potential applications, from bespoke furniture to architectural floor, roof or wall assemblies.
“This system is innovative in its use of raw materials and pioneering in its approach,” said Sebastian Cox, lead judge of the Furniture & Object panel.
“Constructed to take advantage of the inherent strength of tree forks, the walkway structure is both exciting and clever, creating a wonderful experience for visitors to walk, raised through the forest.
“Adding to the legacy of contemporary woodwork experimentation at Hooke Park, this piece offers valuable research into the structural use of natural timbers with potential benefits for public spaces.”
The Wood Awards Furniture and Objects judges, a team of world leading professionals, viewed in-person all shortlisted pieces before deciding the winners, in one of the UK’s most rigorous assessments for any competition. Several furniture and object pieces won in other categories.
See page 19 of our December 2025/January 2026 issue on our Back Issues page.
