LUFKIN, TEXAS – Texas Forestry Association (TFA) presented the annual Excellence in Wood Design Awards to Fredonia Brewery in Nacogdoches and Texas Farm Credit in Brenham during the organization’s annual conference held Oct. 16-18, 2019, at The Fredonia Hotel in Nacogdoches, Texas.
The Excellence in Wood Design award has been presented for fifty-two years as a positive outreach program for TFA. The main criteria for the nominations include the projects must be located in Texas and they must have been completed within the past five years. This year, the award was presented in two categories: Special Project and Commercial.
“The Fredonia Brewery received the special project nomination for its creative use of existing wooden structures,” said Rob Hughes, TFA Executive Director. “Though the main building which houses the brewery is metal, it was situated in the middle of the property to maximize the use of the existing wooden garden building, pergola and arbor design that were part of the Dragon Fly Nursery. The garden building is made of pine lumber and shiplap siding. The pergola and arbor are made of pine lumber as well and stained dark in color.”
Paul Murray and Vince Beard receive the award for Excellence in Wood Design, Special Project, from members of the TFA Marketing Committee: John Boyette, Robert Christ, David Macher, Ed Dougal and Jeff Zwolinski during Texas Forestry Association’s annual convention held October 16-18, 2019 held at The Fredonia Hotel in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Inside, the bar surround is timber framed local pine built by Red Suspenders and uses no nails or screws in its construction. The huge, heavy pine beam framing, which displays the beauty of the bar is held together by mortise & tenon construction. The bar top is made from a few very large pieces of local black walnut harvested after a massive lighting strike hit the tree.
Vince Beard, Paul Murray and some of Paul’s Coast Guard friends, and Chris and Jacob Philbrook, built thirty tables and sixty benches for seating both inside and out. These benches and tables were all constructed of pressure-treated loblolly pine from 4”x4”s, 2”x4”s and 2”x6”s, cut into pieces utilizing different types of rabbet joinery. The wood for the tables and benches was all obtained from Cal-Tex Lumber Company.
Texas Farm Credit, located in Brenham, Texas, received the award for the Commercial category. The structure was completed in July 2019 and serves as a regional administrative location for the rural lending cooperative while housing home mortgage and administrative personnel, in addition to agricultural lending officers.
John Carpenter with Texas Farm Credit and architects Kelsie Srnensky and Eric Opperman, front row, receive the award for Excellence in Wood Design, Special Project, from , from members of the TFA Marketing Committee: John Boyette, Robert Christ, David Macher, Ed Dougal and Jeff Zwolinski, during Texas Forestry Association’s annual convention held October 16-18, 2019 held at The Fredonia Hotel in Nacogdoches, Texas.
“Fine wood products, provided by Elder Hardwoods, play a dominate role throughout the design of the building,” said Hughes. “The aesthetic goal of the project was to invoke the nostalgia of a 1900s farmhouse, pieced together to show growth over generations.”
On the exterior, rough cypress is used for board and batten cladding to emphasize the “barn” which protrudes from the “house.” On the interior, they showcase several diverse species such as cypress, walnut, pecan, and a mixed species blend on the conference room ceiling and coat nook. Additional main sources of wood used throughout include the building structure, interior doors, and trim.
The project architect is Singleton Zimmer Haliburton Architecture, and Collier Construction built the facility. The project displays a welcoming rough cypress barn door feature on the outside and a finely crafted pecan and walnut accounts desk inside. It has stained board and batten siding, exposed tongue and groove porch roof decks with exposed rafters, and 14”x16” solid cypress timber silo door jambs and header. The sheer size and girth of the post and beam convey a sense of solidarity, meant to withstand the test of time. Solid wood doors, louvers, trellis, live edge mantle and window seat, coat nook, and the multi-species conference room ceiling continue to spread their beauty throughout. Finally, handcrafted hardwood tables complete the building interior.
“The project presents wood as a forefront material, used to accentuate different areas of the design to give each space its own character,” said Hughes. “The use of various species brings diversity in materials yet allows cohesion when the project is viewed as a whole. The inherent warmth the wood brings about makes this project feel like home and creates a space worth coming to work in every day.”
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Texas Forestry Association, the voice for forestry for over 100 years, promotes an economic, social and political climate that will advance forestry in Texas through education, political action and public relations, as well as serving the broad needs of the forest resource of landowners, producers and consumers, and to enhance and perpetuate the Texas forest resource.
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