New Museum Project Helps Demonstrate Mass Timber’s Potential | SLB March 2023 Newsletter

In February, the SLB funded two events at Texas A&M to engage students from its architecture and engineering programs and generate interest and enthusiasm around wood construction. On February 13, Jennifer Bonner, a well-regarded Associate Professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, gave a guest lecture to a packed auditorium about how her practice specifies mass timber in the design of different building typologies.

Later in the week, the Think Wood Mobile Tour visited Rudder Plaza, a bustling gathering place adjacent to the architecture and engineering buildings on the College Station, Texas, campus. In addition to the exhibit attracting passers-by, professors brought groups of students to the Mobile Tour to see firsthand the economic and environmental benefits of building with wood. By offering a deeper understanding of the properties and potential of wood, both events allowed students to explore new ways to design and build sustainable, beautiful, and cost-effective structures—so that when they enter the workforce, wood will be one of the first material choices they consider in the design process. Check out video highlights of the tour here.

Both Texas A&M events were coordinated by architecture professor James Tate, who has emerged as a strong proponent of mass timber education at the school as well as throughout the Texas academic community. SLB Education first worked with Tate at the SLB-sponsored 2022 faculty development workshop held at Clemson University. He is a member of SLB Education’s faculty advisory committee and is scheduled to speak at the next SLB Board of Directors meeting in Denver on May 17.

As more states adopt the 2021 International Building Code, state building and fire officials are looking to the AWC as a trusted resource to help them get up to speed on the tall mass timber provisions included in the code. The AWC is meeting the need by providing training sessions for code officials across the country. In recent months, it has completed training sessions at annual conferences for the Missouri Association of Building and Fire Officials, the Ohio Building Officials Association, and the Iowa Association of Building Officials, as well as at other events in St. Louis, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.

A dozen training sessions are already scheduled for upcoming months, including a session for the Code Officials Association of Alabama, which requested AWC training on tall mass timber after seeing the Think Wood Mobile Tour display at the 2022 ICC Annual Business Meeting. The AWC’s work to help building officials across the country become more comfortable with mass timber is critical as states either consider adoption of the tall mass timber provisions in the 2021 IBC or prepare to begin plan reviews under its provisions.

In a recent project profile, Think Wood highlighted Nesika Illahee, an affordable housing project in Portland, Oregon, tailored to Native American families in need. The inspiring project showcases the use of wood in biophilic design, as the architect used exposed wood as one of several ways to support the building’s residents recovering from past trauma and addictions.

“We are increasingly approaching projects with what we call trauma-informed design, particularly when it comes to affordable housing projects like Nesika Illahee,” says Brian Carleton, AIA, co-founder and principal of Carleton Hart, the project’s architect. “And biophilic design, the use of natural materials like wood and a connection to nature, is an important part of our approach.”

The project is just one example of the growing opportunity for wood products in the design and construction industry’s efforts to make housing more affordable. It’s also a compelling example of a hybrid design approach that incorporates both a light-frame wood structure and mass timber components such as glulam beams.