Winners Announced for the Second Annual Mass Timber Competition

Five winners have been selected in the second annual Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero Carbon, the Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) announced last Thursday (10-19-23). The competition is jointly funded by the SLB and the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

The winning projects shared funding totaling $2.2 million to demonstrate mass timber’s applications in architectural design and highlight its significant role in reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment.

Winning proposals exemplified new ways to design and construct mass timber buildings in the US at a higher scale, as well as a commitment to strengthen the mass timber supply chain through the use of domestically sourced wood from sustainably managed forests. WoodWorks, a non-profit staffed with structural engineers, architects, and construction experts, conducted technical screening and evaluation of the entries.

The following are the winning projects:

• CODA Detroit. Building Type: Mixed-Use Residential. Project Team: OOMBRA Architects, Brush Park Properties / IN Development Partners, JDH Engineering, Britt Peters and Associates, and AM Higley
• Up@310 Lofts. Project Type: Vertical Addition. Project Team: Lignin Group, Tim Olson, Banwell Architects, 310 Marlboro St., and Entuitive.
• Via/NWA IC Program. Building Type: Affordable Multifamily Housing. Project Team: A226, Blue Crane, Modus Studio, Tatum-Smith-Welcher, Aspect Structural Engineers, and Arco Construction.
• The Village SF Wellness Center. Building Type: Mixed Use. Project Team: PYATOK architecture + urban design, The Friendship House Association of American Indians, DCI Engineers, and Cahill Contractors.
• Woolsey Gardens. Building Type: Mid-Rise Multifamily. Project Team: Solomon Cordwell Buenz, Northern California Land Trust, Tipping Structural Engineers, Swinerton Builders, and Timberlab.

Award recipients have pledged to share with the broader design and construction community lessons learned during project phases, including cost analyses, life cycle assessments, and other research results. Pictures of the winning projects can be found in the original source.