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The wood for the Dezeen Awards 2020 trophies was provided by Saunders Seasonings, a London-based timber company which supplies UK-grown repurposed hardwood to furniture makers and designers.

The 45 trophies were designed by Dutch design studio Atelier NL and crafted in London by design and maker studio Azmy Anything in collaboration with Saunders Seasonings. The wooden trophies are hand-sawn and finished, with the Dezeen Awards logo milled using a CNC machine and the details of the winners engraved by laser.

Taking place online from 23 to 25 November, the Dezeen Awards 2020 Shows celebrate the world’s best architecture, interiors and design projects. Dezeen Awards is the world’s most popular awards programme. In its third year, the awards attracted over 4,500 entries from more than 80 countries.

Whereas some 90% of hardwood used in the UK is imported, Saunders Seasonings sources most of its timber from old trees felled in and around London which would otherwise be chipped and burned.

“By choosing to make the Dezeen Awards 2020 trophies from repurposed locally-sourced timber, Dezeen is demonstrating the importance of sustainability in great design,” said Bruce Saunders, managing director of Saunders Seasoning.

“Thousands of old trees are felled every year in London, and most of them are simply chipped and burned. We believe the wood from these trees should be put to better use. In the hands of designers and makers we give fallen trees a chance to be reborn as something beautiful, useful, locally relevant and long lived.”

Aísling Cowley, head of Dezeen Awards, commented: “For this year’s trophies we chose to use London timber after using London clay in previous years. As London is Dezeen’s hometown it made perfect sense to work with local materials and suppliers. We love the redesigned awards Saunders Seasonings and Azmy Anything have crafted together with the designers at Atelier NL.”

A video about the making of the awards can be found here