Monthly Update: April 2019

Senior Associate Ben Stinson of Ankrom Moisan Architecture of Portland, Ore., recently reflected on the firm’s development of 120 Clay Pavilion, a three-story, 115,000-square-foot building in Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District. 120 Clay is a hybrid glulam and steel frame building with a nail laminated timber (NLT) floor system that creates a unifying element between the building’s two wings.

The design team chose NLT as a featured material for both its aesthetics and function. The project’s NLT panels were prefabricated offsite, which reduced overall construction time and offered the team flexibility in accommodating material expansion due to Portland’s generous annual rainfall. According to Stinson, “the texture of NLT lends noticeable aesthetic and acoustic benefits to the space,” and its use helped 120 Clay maximize exposure to natural wood, reduce layout obstructions, and create a more flexible space for tenants.

To read more about 120 Clay and its effective use of NLT, click here.

Designed by Bogdan Newman Caranci and engineered by Blackwell Structural Engineers, the eight-story 77 Wade Avenue project in Toronto is on course to become Canada’s tallest commercial building constructed of NLT.

77 Wade will feature hybrid timber-concrete-and-steel construction, engineered specifically to minimize environmental impact. The team opted for exposed NLT ceilings and columns to achieve spans reminiscent of traditional concrete and steel buildings, while enjoying the benefits of NLT’s appearance and savings in time and costs.

Engineering and design firm Arup recently published the Rethinking Timber Buildings report, which looks at the trends, technologies, and emerging uses that are supporting timber’s resurgence in building design and construction. Using seven different examples and supported by historic precedents and learning from around the world, the report examines the impact of wood use on construction speed, performance quality, building safety, and human experience. The report is sure to be of interest to anyone considering timber construction.

Explore Arup’s report here.

The Nordic Wood in Construction Secretariat has published Wood in Construction: 25 Cases of Nordic Good Practice, a new report highlighting 25 innovative and best practice cases of using wood in construction. The report is the product of an initiative commissioned by the Swedish government and the Nordic Council of Ministers and hosted by EIT Climate-KIC.

The report shows how Nordic countries are sustainably tackling growing urban populations by combining sustainable forest management and wood construction; regularly achieving new milestones in terms of wood building height, size, and innovation; and helping to sustain rural economies.

The report offers valuable learning and perspectives, applicable to projects around the world, on investing in timber construction and creating sustainable alternatives to steel, glass, and concrete in buildings.

Michigan State University’s future STEM Teaching and Learning Facility will be the first building in the state of Michigan to use mass timber instead of concrete and steel for its load-bearing structure. The $100 million facility will be constructed of glue laminated wooden columns and cross laminated timber (CLT) floors and ceilings.

Among mass timber’s many benefits, the university was drawn in particular to the quicker construction time and related cost-efficiencies afforded by CLT, and the pleasing aesthetics of exposed wood, which promises to create a warm, inviting environment for learning for years to come.

Many analysts and observers believe that Michigan State’s building will catalyze additional mass timber construction throughout the state of Michigan and potentially lead to the establishment of CLT manufacturing in the state, long known for its forest resources.

Dilbert, the comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, recently reiterated what we all know—there is no substitute for wood when it comes to a cost-effective, climate-smart material for building construction. Dilbert currently appears in over 2,000 newspapers and online sources in approximately 65 countries, thus providing important food for thought through satire, here in favor of the softwood lumber industry.