Designing Building Systems for Mass Timber: David Rubenstein Treehouse Conference Center

Clients are attracted to mass timber construction for lowered embodied carbon, construction time savings, and the naturally warm, inviting environment it brings to a project. That last point, aesthetics, is often challenged by the necessary systems required in modern buildings.

The Treehouse Conference Center was designed with the goal of maximizing exposed timber and having systems follow architecture. The raised floor system of the upper levels was critical to achieving both Harvard’s increased fresh air requirement and keeping ceilings clear of ductwork, plumbing, electrical and AV routes. Systems design leveraged this under floor space to maximize clear timber ceilings, however, the atrium, which does not have a raised floor, demanded a different approach. The atrium required careful planning and coordination to ensure sprinklers, lighting and life safety devices were integrated and complementary to the project geometry.

This project demonstrates the opportunities, challenges and strategies at the intersection of systems design and architecture.

Bethany Mahre

Design Director
Studio Gang

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The Bloomberg Student Center at Johns Hopkins University

The Bloomberg Student Center, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and Shepley Bulfinch, with knippershelbig as structural and façade engineers, serves as a new, multifunctional hub for student life on Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Campus. The 143,000 sf facility forms a gateway to the campus through a composition of highly transparent, mass timber-framed volumes with cascading roof geometries that descend the sloped topography toward Charles Street.

The presentation will outline the overall design approach and examine key engineering strategies that were critical to the realization of the project’s ambitious architectural design:

• The structural design of the cascading roofscape, utilizing dowel-laminated timber (DLT) panels and glulam beams, and the integration of multiple lateral force-resisting systems to support expansive glazed façades and uninterrupted interior volumes.
• The hygroscopic nature of timber, which causes dimensional changes due to moisture exchange, can present challenges in coordinating envelope systems. The discussion will cover detailing methods and tolerance strategies employed to mitigate construction tolerances, structural deflection, and moisture variability without compromising performance or aesthetics of finely detailed façade systems.
• The seamless coordination, integration and partial concealment of systems within the mass timber framework, achieved through strategically located ceiling trenches and penetrations in structural members.

Florian Meier

Director
knippershelbig

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Milo's Market: A Mass Plywood Pavilion

Milo’s Market, a mass plywood convenience store, establishes brand identity centered on healthy, quality living and a welcoming atmosphere. The wood structure creates a place that feels good to inhabit — whether enjoying lunch, sipping coffee outdoors, or grabbing a wholesome snack.

Celebrating the honesty of massply, the building achieves a modern, clean aesthetic that connects to the local vernacular, honors regional farmers, and resonates with everyday shoppers. Sustainability is woven into every aspect of the design — from form and material selection to the overall character of the space.

Flared mass plywood columns meet plywood beams supporting the simple monopitch roof. Single 10’x48’ sheets of 8″ thick plywood are used to cut all structural members. The ceiling is 2” thick massply. The V-shaped tank and pump butterfly canopy is cut from a single massply panel.

Natural light floods the interior, highlighting the wood ceiling, structural elements, and suspended trellis-like structures that accentuate specific areas within the store.

The exterior’s expansive windows, warm wood, and stone anchor Milo’s Market. The bright green signage stands out against the building’s natural palette, while displays of fresh, local foods in market carts animate the storefront — visually expressing the store’s values of healthy, sustainable living.

William Tabberson

Principal
Harwood Tabberson Architects

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