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Thursday, March 27, 2025
Case Studies in Mass Timber: Innovation, Structural Performance, and Adaptive Reuse
Rooms C123–124Moderator:
Hanging by a Fiber: The Paris 2024 Olympic Aquatics Centre and Its Mass Timber Catenary Roof
The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement at COP21 set ambitious expectations for all construction work at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The brief for the Olympic Aquatics Center (OAC) established challenging restrictions on the construction materials, the energy usage and the carbon footprint of the project.
The completed OAC met these requirements through an integrated approach combining structural innovation with architectural and mechanical servicing intent. The roof is formed of a series of timber catenaries supported on inclined timber columns stabilized with steel tension ties. This roof shape favors the use of timber – a raw material stronger in tension than compression along the grain – allowing for slender elements to efficiently span the 290ft hall. The shape also reduces the volume of the hall by a third as compared to an equivalent flat roof, slashing the energy usage requirements, and the roof itself is tiled with solar panels. The OAC is finished with a wraparound façade of timber slats to reduce solar gain, and energy demands of the building.
This presentation discusses the design process and detailing of the primary mass timber roof structure and will share cost, embodied carbon and schedule information from the construction process.
Julia West House: Type IVB Permanent Supportive Housing in Downtown Portland
Julia West House is a 12-story, type IVB permanent supportive housing project designed for houseless elders, currently under construction in downtown Portland. Resident services from NARA and Northwest Pilot Projects will provide resources to predominantly BIPOC and Indigenous elders throughout the 90 studio and one-bedroom units. A CLT and glulam post and beam structural system provided the opportunity to create a high-quality and beautiful building. Capitalizing on the early adoption of 2024 IBC allowances for exposure of the structure, all units provide tall, exposed wood ceilings and ample daylight within an efficient footprint, while common areas expose as much structure as possible.
Early design studies compared the use of mass timber with concrete and steel structures. While mass timber carried a cost premium of around $700,000, its benefits on a tight urban site, paired with 14 weeks in schedule savings, made mass timber a viable option. Being one of the first high-rise mass timber buildings in our region, the team will share lessons learned and best practices from early coordination through construction. These topics include glulam structure and panel layout coordinated with MEP penetrations, connecting design and aesthetics with 2-hour fire ratings, and detailing considerations for acoustics in housing.
Adimab: New Hampshire's Newest Mass Timber Lab
What design decisions and approaches can make mass timber floor systems successful for lab buildings? By exploring a recently completed mass timber biotech lab building, built with CLT floors, a glulam frame and both CLT and light-framed walls we will demonstrate why using a mass timber grid proved effective for the lab design criteria and helped meet the client’s sustainability and aesthetic goals. We will also explore the ways the strengths of CLT were leveraged in coordination with the MEP systems without sacrificing clear heights and exposing everything.
The presentation will focus on the challenges specifically associated with design for vibration and review methods of analysis and lessons learned that can be applied to these types of structures and others where human comfort is the primary concern.
While focusing on the completed building, the presentation will make comparisons to another design that uses a steel/CLT hybrid structure designed to provide optimal lab flexibility with market standard column spacing. These two-hour fire rated floors constructed with exposed CLT panels supported on a steel frame will provide state-of-the-art lab speculative space in a structure that reflects the historic character of its neighborhood.
DNR Customer Service Center: The Journey to Certify Softwoods for CLTs
In a groundbreaking effort, Walbridge, a construction management company in Detroit, successfully used Michigan Red Pine to produce CLT panels for a DNR Customer Service Center in the state’s Upper Peninsula – a first-ever application of Michigan Red Pine. With its partners, Walbridge demonstrated the potential of softwoods as a viable material for mass timber construction.
The Michigan DNR wanted the Customer Service Center to be environmentally friendly and adhere to the state’s domestic wood utilization mandates and promote its regional forestry products.
Michigan Red Pine, abundant in the region, emerged as a possibility but processing it into CLT panels proved challenging since there are no mass timber manufacturers in Michigan.
Dave Robson, Walbridge Group VP, and Ben Ridderbos, Director at Lord Aeck Sargent, will walk attendees through finding supply chain partners that could help bring the DNR’s vision to life. They’ll share lessons learned and best practices to find an ANSI-certified mass timber manufacturer to produce CLT panels using Michigan Red Pine and highlight the quality control process that ensured the panels complied with stringent ANSI standards. The DNR project proves with the right partners, determination and planning, softwoods are a promising material for future CLT production.
Amherst College Student Center and Dining Commons: A Case Study for Mass Timber and Adaptive Reuse
This presentation advocates for utilizing mass timber for adaptive reuse projects using a case study of the Student Center and Dining Commons at Amherst College. The project consists of reusing an existing concrete campus building and adding three stories of mass timber. Reuse of the existing building and mass timber construction were chosen to achieve the project’s sustainability goals. Mass timber was selected due to its relative low carbon footprint and lightweight nature.
Based on lessons learned, the following topics will be covered: an overview of the embodied carbon analysis for the project including the benefits of adaptive reuse, structural optimization of the mass timber overbuild to reduce the impact on the existing building, the unique connections between the new and existing structure, and the interaction between the existing structure and new construction and implementation in the field. The project is currently in construction and set to open in 2026.
Toronto & Region Conservation Authority Headquarters: Climate Resilient Development in the Ravine Landscape
The TRCA project is an 8100m2 public office building constructed along the Blackcreek Ravine in Toronto Canada, within a forest of natural and urban woodland. The building’s crystalline geometry stitches the massing into ravine edge whilst opening the volume of the building to natural daylight and ventilation. The mass timber structure forms three floor plates separated by stepped atria across four terraced levels. The atria act as breathing volumes for the mixed-mode ventilation design prioritizing natural airflow during Toronto’s seasons, incorporating solar chimneys, water walls, and timber shading. This approach, along with maximizing exposed timber to reduce waste and use of wood cladding, contributes to the building’s extremely low energy performance (LEED Platinum, WELL v2).
Detailing of the building involved a high level of spatial resolution tested using large scale physical models to resolve lateral stability, joints, and atrium geometry. To achieve CGBC Net Zero Carbon certification lateral restraint was resolved with an all-timber structure, incorporating a mix of cross-laminated timber (CLT) cores and timber bracing members. The mass timber structure was adapted by contractor to work with a global supply chain; engineering design in Italy, fabrication and supply from European suppliers, delivery by ship to Toronto, erected over a three month period.
Session CEUs: Course Description & Learning Objectives
Course Description
This course explores innovative mass timber applications through case studies of completed and ongoing adaptive reuse projects, highlighting strategies for integrating mass timber and balancing structural reinforcement with design goals. Attendees will learn about challenges and solutions related to these projects, including the unique geometries mass timber allows for, occupant comfort, fire rating compliance, material optimization, and coordination with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems. Experienced team members will share insights and present valuable lessons learned in design, detailing, and implementation that apply across various project types.
Learning Objectives
- Examine the unique geometries that can be built with mass timber providing an aesthetically pleasing space, while maintaining structural integrity.
- Understand the role of mass timber in reducing embodied carbon, enhancing energy efficiency, and integrating renewable materials in sustainable construction.
- Learn best practices for MEP coordination, fire safety compliance, and acoustic detailing in mass timber buildings to ensure performance and code adherence.
- Explore strategies for integrating mass timber into adaptive reuse projects, balancing structural reinforcement with sustainable design goals.