News in engineered wood products mass timber

Milwaukee, Wisconsin is soon to be home of the world’s tallest timber skyscraper. What is special about the Milwaukee project is its height. When the high-end apartment complex opens in 2022, it will top the height of the world’s current tallest wood structure that is now in Norway.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has a clear message: to keep catastrophic climate change impacts at bay, we need to keep our warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, and the land sector must play a central role in achieving that.

The first mass timber hotel to be constructed in North America has opened in Austin Texas. The Hotel Magdalena is located on land once owned by Willie Nelson and home to the Terrace Motor Hotel (the place to see and be seen at the time), is the latest from Bunkhouse Group, a Texas-based hospitality company.

Texas CLT has announced that their Magnolia Arkansas Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) facility has been certified by Timber Products (TP). Texas CLT has been producing CLT panels since 2019 at the facility but prior to the certification their use was limited to crane mats, bridge panels, and shoring wall markets.

While coming late to the game, mass timber frames in the U.S. are on an upswing. Thanks in part to the sustainable material being renewable and recent changes in building codes. According to WoodWorks, a nonprofit technical group that promotes the use of wood in nonresidential and multifamily building, there are 445 engineered wood projects completed or under construction in the U.S. and 534 more in the design process.

Groundbreaking has taken place on a two-phase, 245-unit condominium “Tresah” in Victoria B.C. When completed it will be the largest mass timber condominium project in area.

The Japanese architectural firm Kengo Kuma has adapted the use of cross laminated timber (CLT) in its newly constructed temporary pavilion in Tokyo. The pavilion was designed for events and performances in Tokyo’s Harumi district.

With the completion of the construction of the first phase of Candlewood Suites at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, Lendlease and IHG Army Hotels has completed the construction of their fourth cross-laminated timber (CLT) hotel.

Led by Boston-based design firm Generate and including prominent local names like Consligli Construction and major international firms like Arup Engineering, the Tallhouse project is aimed at speeding up the adoption of mass timber building techniques and taking the risk out of the design and development process.