Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington architecture graduate Ged Finch’s reusable building frame system, X-Frame, is in the running to be voted one of The Earthshot Prize’s top 15 solutions, announced later this year.

Nominated for the prestigious awards in April, the circular architecture system is made from clip-together engineered wooden parts that can be assembled to create strong, self-braced and load-bearing walls or frames of any size. The geometry of the components means less material is used in building and their design allows prefabricated wall linings to be reversibly hung onto walls and removed without damaging linings or wall frames.

The Earthshot judging panel said that X-Frame (already available in both Aotearoa and Australia) is leading the way in reducing CO2 emissions within the building industry. “As a construction system, it is easy to assemble and reassemble, and the team has access to the technology required to scale up distribution worldwide, making it highly accessible.” Finch launched X-Frame, which was developed as part of his PhD research, with support from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington’s commercialisation office, Wellington UniVentures. The team is now hoping to expand significantly, to help contribute to the goal of building a waste-free world.

In August, The Earthshot Prize will select the top 15 solutions as its 2023 finalists across five categories: Protect and restore nature, Clean our air, Revive our oceans, Build a waste-free world and Fix our climate. Finalists are then connected with the Prize’s international Global Alliance and mentors, who will provide advice to help each finalist scale their solution. The Prize Council will announce the five winners, each of whom will receive £1,000,000 (NZ$1.9m), on Tuesday 7 November in Singapore.