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Adding flexible workspace to an industrial building, this resourceful rooftop extension – designed by Thomas McBrien Architects with New Wave London – has been declared the winner of both the Commercial and Sustainability Awards at the Wood Awards 2025.

Overlooking the city from a North London hillside, New Wave House showcases how timber construction paired with circularity can create outstanding commercial architecture with minimal environmental impacts, setting a new benchmark for urban development.

Expanding the overall floor space by 40%, this low-carbon extension has prioritized resource efficiency and adaptive reuse at every turn. At the heart of the scheme is a lightweight, demountable Douglas fir glulam structure, designed to rest on top of the existing building with minimal structural interventions.

From the timber frame through to freestanding furniture, each part of the extension was fabricated onsite in the contractor and client’s joinery workshop, reducing transport emissions and wastage.

Insulated roof panels from the existing building were repurposed in the new envelope, while additional timber, lime render, insulation and fixtures were salvaged from previous projects. All the components have been thoughtfully composed to create a calm working environment benefitting from generous daylight and natural ventilation.

New Wave House was built by and for New Wave London, with wood supplied by PiveteauBois. The structural engineers were LIM Engineering Ltd.

“This well detailed rooftop extension is a good example of a simple but elegant solution,” said Jim Greaves, lead judge of the Wood Awards and Principal of Hopkins Architects.

“A carefully detailed wood frame creates a flexible lightweight structure sitting on top of an existing concrete and masonry industrial building. The services are impressively coordinated and the entire building fits together perfectly, resulting in a feeling of coherence and lightness.  

“The project demonstrates how reuse and circular economy principles can add genuine value to a commercial scheme.”

The Wood Awards building judges, a team of world-leading professionals, visited all 20 buildings shortlisted before deciding the winners, in one of the UK’s most rigorous assessments for any architecture competition.

You can find out more about all of the 2025 Wood Award winners by visiting www.woodawards.com.

As a not-for-profit competition, the Wood Awards can only happen with collaborative industry sponsorship. A huge thank you for continued support from The Carpenters’ Company, American Hardwood Export Council and Timber Development UK.