Roof of Africa Awards and Medals – Custom Laser Cut Design for Hard Enduro Racing

Some projects land with a bit more weight behind them than others. This was one of those.
I was asked to design and produce custom awards and medals for the Roof of Africa Hard Enduro event, one of the most respected and demanding races in the off-road world. The goal was to create something that felt worthy of the riders finishing one of the toughest events in motorsport.

The Roof of Africa isn’t a normal race. It’s long, technical, and brutal on both rider and machine. So the awards couldn’t feel generic. They needed to reflect the effort it takes just to finish, never mind place on the podium.

I designed a full set of laser cut wooden awards and medals, built around layered detail and strong engraved contrast. The idea was to make each piece feel like it had depth, not just visually, but in meaning too.

Each medal was cut and engraved using CO₂ laser equipment, then finished to bring out the contrast in the design. The darker engraved areas were pushed for clarity, while the lighter wood tones were left to carry the natural feel of the material. The result was something clean, bold, and easy to recognise at a glance, even in a busy podium setting.

Working on an event like this meant everything had to be right first time. There’s no room for inconsistency when you’re producing awards for an international motorsport event. Every piece needed to match, and every detail needed to hold up when it’s held in someone’s hand after completing something that tough.

Seeing the full set together before it left the workshop was a good moment. Not just because it was finished, but because it represented a race with real history behind it and riders who had pushed through some serious conditions to earn those pieces.

This is the kind of work I want more of at Lothian Woodworks. Custom awards and medals for events that matter, where the piece itself becomes part of the story.