Mass Timber in Medical and Health Spaces

This informative panel will feature three key speakers covering up to four different projects. The speakers are working on a handful of mass timber projects featured in the medical and health spaces — cancer care treatment centers, dental facilities, patient urgent care, and child behavior health services.

These projects will be some of the first medical facilities in their respective regions. The presentation will show the benefits of mass timber in the medical space, which is a growing product type, and will explore the architecture, engineering, and construction perspectives for each project.

A variety of mass timber types are used in the various projects: CLT, DLT, ADLT, glulam, and Mass Plywood Panels. The projects are also at various stages of development. One recently completed construction, two others broke ground late 2025, and the fourth is in the final stages of GMP.

Jacob Struck

Senior Superintendent
Skanska

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Anne Monier

PE SE, Principal
KPFF

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Mass Timber in Healthcare and Infection Control

Healing spaces have long integrated nature into their design, from ancient Greek temples dedicated to Asclepius to medieval monastic gardens. Yet, modern healthcare facilities have shifted toward industrialized efficiency, emphasizing microbial eradication and synthetic materials that mimic nature. This approach has produced unintended consequences, including reduced microbial diversity, antibiotic resistance, and negative ecological impacts.

Emerging research from the University of Oregon’s Institute for Health in the Built Environment points to mass timber as a compelling alternative. Exposed wood surfaces not only foster a biophilic visual connection that supports patient well-being, but also demonstrate natural antimicrobial properties, transferring fewer viable microbes than conventional materials such as plastic or stainless steel.

The Institute’s Biology and the Built Environment Center has been conducting controlled laboratory experiments with cross-laminated timber, examining microbial abundance, diversity, and viability under varying simulated healthcare conditions. This presentation will share published results of previous studies and highlight on-going research on healthcare cleaning methods and wood finish to support the potential of mass timber to advance microbial, human, and ecological health in the design of future healthcare facilities.

Mark Fretz

Co-Director, Institute for Health in the Built Environment / Assistant Professor
University of Oregon

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Session CEUs

Course Description

Explore the emerging use of mass timber in healthcare settings, including cancer care centers, dental clinics, urgent care centers, and child behavioral health facilities. This panel presents case studies of some of the first mass timber medical projects, integrating research, architecture, engineering, and construction perspectives. Speakers will discuss structural systems, construction sequencing, regulatory challenges, and infection control, highlighting research on the antimicrobial performance of exposed wood and how biophilic design supports patient and staff well-being.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify appropriate mass timber structural systems for use in healthcare occupancies and evaluate their implications for safety, durability, and constructability.
2. Analyze how mass timber design strategies can support patient, staff, and visitor well-being through biophilic design principles while meeting healthcare performance and infection control requirements.
3. Assess current research on microbial behavior on mass timber surfaces compared to conventional healthcare materials and apply these insights to material selection and finish strategies that promote health and safety.
4. Recognize key architectural, engineering, and construction coordination challenges specific to mass timber medical facilities, including code compliance, sequencing, and hygiene-driven detailing, in order to improve occupant welfare and project outcomes.