VANCOUVER - Vancouver's NSDA Architects won first Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Award, at the 10th annual Wood WORKS! BC Wood Design Awards.

The architectural firm was recognized March 3 for innovative use of wood certified to SFI Standards in the Kordyban Lodge project, a Canadian Cancer Society care facility built in Prince George, BC. The stunning wood building spans 25,000 square feet and includes 36 beds, a meditation room, lounge, family room, massage therapy room and other amenities made more comfortable owing to the liberal use of wood in the design.

Accepting the award was Jerry Doll, Partner at NSDA. "We are continually striving to create spirited and innovative architecture that showcases wood at its finest," he said.

  Wood certified to the SFI Standard used in the facility includes several products supplied by the Sinclair Group of Companies and Winton Global Lumber Ltd., including engineered roof trusses, pre-fabricated walls, studs, sheathing plywood, and laminated veneer lumber (LVL).

The lodge contains wood products from certified sources, most of them to the SFI standard. The SFI organization certification functions similarly to PEFC, FSC and the ATFS certification systems. Across the United States and Canada, more than 250 million acres are certified to the SFI forest management standard.

   The Wood WORKS! Wood Design Awards program, which is staged in various Canadian markets, recognizes and publicizes excellence in wood architecture, based on creativity, distinctive and appropriate uses of wood materials, ability to satisfy clients' building and site requirements, and overall aesthetic appeal for the use and application of wood. It is a Canadian national industry-led initiative of the Canadian Wood Council, with a goal to support innovation and provide leadership on the use of wood and wood products.

Separately, NSDA won the Alberta Wood WORKS! 2013 Prairie Wood Design Award for its Prairie Lake Retreat, one of eight projects  selected from over 40 entries submitted with creative use of wood in construction and design.