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They are an aviation showpiece shaped like a vintage plane and a fire hall that defies convention.
They are two of the big winners at the Canadian Wood Council's 2022-23 Wood Design & Building Awards.
The KF Aerospace Centre for Excellence neighbouring Kelowna International Airport is a magnificent feat of engineering and design made out of wood to look like a vintage Spitfire plane viewed head on with cockpit, engine and propeller front and centre with a wing spreading out either side.
The centre won the Sansin Sponsorship Award for its innovative use of local wood made into cross-laminated timber and glue-laminated timber trusses.
The mass timber was used to construct an immersive aviation destination with massive exhibition space to fit aircraft, airfield viewing gallery, holographic displays, flight simulators and conference centre.
The centre for excellence was completed last year to commemorate KF Aerospace's (formerly Kelowna Flightcraft) 50th anniversary.
KF is Kelowna's largest private-sector employer with 700 employees working out of its hangars and offices doing aircraft maintenance, retrofits, charters and cargo hauling.
Kelowna-based Meiklejohn Architects designed the centre with KF founder Barry Lapointe's specifications for local wood and airplane look-and-feel in mind.
StructureCraft of Abbotsford were the engineers and the centre was built by Kelowna-based Sawchuk Developments.
The 39th annual Wood Design & Building Awards handed out 24 trophies in eight categories to recognize projects worldwide that showcase the beauty, versatility, strength and sustainability of wood structures and building materials.
The awards are also a reminder that forestry is an important economic driver in Canada and that more and more construction, from residential and commercial to institutional and highrise, can be effectively, efficiently and economically done in wood.
Prince George Fire Hall No. 1 was one of six Merit Award winners along with the repurposing of an old paint factory in San Francisco, the refurbishment of a library in Cambridge, Ontario, and wood projects in England, Spain and Holland.
Wood is usually considered highly flammable and therefore something you wouldn't associate with a fire station.
Prince George, which is the epicentre of BC's forestry industry, wanted to utilize as much wood as possible for the rebuilding of its Fire Hall No. 1.
And it did so in spectacular fashion with a 2,415-square-foot, hybrid wood-steel-concrete headquarters.
Laminated veneer lumber and plywood was used for the roof and nail-laminated timber made the walls and three-storey signature staircase.
The centrepiece of the fire hall is the wide-open space with five, drive-through bays for fire trucks.
The fire hall also houses dispatch services and administration offices and was also designed to be the emergency hub during and after any disaster.
The fire hall was built by Prince George-based IDL Projects, designed by Vancouver-based HCMA Architects and engineered by Prince George firm Scouten.
Prince George is also home to the Wood Innovation & Design Centre, an eight-storey mass timber building that demonstrates wood construction can rise above the traditional single-family home and four-storey apartment building or commercial strip.
The wood innovation centre houses the University of Northern BC's masters in engineering program and includes classrooms and offices, workshop, lab, theatre and demonstration space.
Since it was completed in 2014, wood buildings have risen ever higher with the tallest being the 19-storey Brock Commons students' residence at UBC Vancouver, the 19-story Sara Kulturhus Hotel in Sweden and the 25-storey Ascent MKE highrise in Milwaukee.
