Mass Timber in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facilities

United Therapeutics’ most recent development is a 196,000 square-foot pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, designed to achieve zero embodied and operational carbon. It features cGMP cleanrooms, a warehouse, refrigerated storage, laboratories, a central utility plant, and offices.

This facility is Type VB construction, with hybrid mass timber and steel structure, timber curtain walls and natural siding — all of which are atypical in pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. The design underscores the client’s environmental goals while adhering to regulatory requirements. Early collaboration with Nordic in a design-assist capacity facilitated the design of efficient structural systems that aligned with the GC’s construction schedule.

This collaboration helped the project team navigate a 10% cost reduction effort during design, preserving the mass timber structure, and maintaining production throughput.

Despite being early in construction, the project has yielded valuable insights, including that larger structural spans beneficial for manufacturing can lead to shrinkage and creep exceeding those of conventional steel structures.

Organic construction materials such as mass timber are not typically utilized in cGMP facilities. WARP10 exemplifies a groundbreaking approach to mass timber construction, setting a precedent for other biotech companies to follow with a unified vision and strategic partnerships.

Jennifer Wampler

Principal
EwingCole

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