Skanska Begins Construction on Cincinnati’s First Mass Timber Building

Skanska USA, a project development and construction group, and Cincinnati Public Radio (CPR) announced on Tuesday (8-22-23) that they have broken ground on a new headquarters for CPR. When completed in the winter of 2024, the $32 million, 35,000 square-foot building will become the first two-story mass timber building in the Midwest and the first of its kind in Cincinnati.

The project will use cross laminated timber (CLT). Skanska will build the entire column and beam structure, second floor, roof structure, and a selection of interior shear walls and exterior perimeter walls with mass timber.

In a press release, Dean Lewis, Skanska’s director of mass timber and prefabrication, said:

“Mass timber projects are gaining traction throughout the country, including the heartland. While most mass timber projects are hybrids in which the lateral system is comprised of steel or concrete, this project’s lateral system is composed of cross-laminated timber shear walls, making it an almost completely mass timber superstructure. I look forward to seeing more mass timber projects in the Midwest, as cities aim to build healthier, more sustainable built environments.”