Utah Gets Its First Look at Large-Scale Mass Timber Construction

The Salt Lake Tribune reported Thursday (3-23-23) that Utah is getting its first look at large-scale, mass timber building with an office structure currently under construction in the City of Draper, and it could be the first of many.

The five-story Baltic Pointe building will overlook I-15 and be the home of Pelion Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that has backed several tech startups. HB Workplaces, the office furniture firm previously known as Henriksen Butler, will also be moving its headquarters into the building when it is ready for occupancy early next year.

Liza Hart, Vice President of Design and Sustainability at the Gardner Group, the developer and part owner of the building along with Pelion, told the Tribune, “It’s an old way of building made new again, but there’s really nothing new about it.”

Because the Baltic Pointe building sits on a slope, and the size of the lot meant putting the building on top of a concrete parking structure, Hart acknowledges that the building will still have some steel and concrete to meet the specific requirements of the site. Hart notes that in other mass timber buildings, the size of the concrete foundation can be small because the weight of the building is less.