With Unique Mass Timber Design, National Veterans Resource Center Opens at Syracuse University

The National Veterans Resource Center (NVRC), a first-of-its-kind facility, has opened on the campus of Syracuse University. The NVRC is dedicated to advanced academic research, action-oriented programing, and community-connected innovation in service to the nation’s veterans and military-connected families.

The benefits of real wood were a major design focus for the project. The team selected wood for its inherent connection to nature, as a way to provide added value for the military veterans who utilize the center’s resources. Throughout the vast public spaces of the project, wood cladding is predominate, including the entirety of the auditorium and main conference room interiors.

Doubly curved cross-laminated timbers (CLT) create a feature wall which wraps the exterior of the large central auditorium and forms a canopy over the 21,300 square foot lobby, exhibition, and event space. The wall rises 28 feet to become a ceiling system, extends past the façade line and encloses 9,900 square feet of ground-level space. The wall consists of 12,274 uniquely milled CLT Douglas-fir planks and spruce panels, affixed to the supporting structure via 135,200 screws, clips and other hardware—all coordinated centrally in a federated digital model.