A $150,000 grant has been awarded to Dr. Johnson Lumber Co. from Oregon BEST. The grant will help the company in partnership with Oregon State University develop the countries 2nd CLT plant. The first CLT manufacturer in the United States is located in Whitefish Montana and has selected to keep their products out of the construction industry and instead focus on rig mats which provide a consistent sales base. We hope that this new Oregon based manufacture located near Riddle in Southern Oregon will help promote the use of this material in modern construction techniques. 

There are also rumours of another CLT plant in partnership with European companies opening in Idaho. 

For more information read the Portland Tribune's Article here:
http://portlandtribune.com/sl/238138-104348-grant-will-help-develop-oregons-first-cross-laminated-timber-plant-

The US national symposium on tall wood buildings will be held November 6th and 7th in Chicago. Participation costs $125 and will feature a host of presentations by experts in the field. Professional development certificates and AIA CES forms will be available on site for completion.

For questions contact: Jaime Krohn at jaime@woodworks.org or 312.841.8272
For more information follow this link: http://www.woodworks.org/education-event/toward-taller-wood-buildings/

The University of British Columbia's proposed 18 story, 53m student residence is set to be the tallest heavy timber or heavy timber hybrid building in the world. The building plot has a large rectilinear shape necessitating an adapted design portfolio to meet the building's program with roughly 400 residences.  Conceptual massing was undertaken with rough room sizings to analyze some of the possible form outcomes of such a project. 

V1 - Tilted Monolith          (13 stories)
V2 - Stepped Program     (18 stories)
V3 - Conjoined Towers    (18 stories)

A project of this nature represents unique building challenges for the stiffness of an irregularly shaped structure, as well as coordinating appropriate access and distribution of utilities. A number of timber construction design systems can be used to address these problems, each with their own unique set of benefits and drawbacks. The question is what construction solutions will come out in the winning bid?

A Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) option is easy to implement and fast to construct.
A glulam post and beam system has much better material utilization rates and provides open floor layouts.
A Timber Concrete Composite (TCC) system produces a strong centre of stiffness and robust fire resistance.
A timber outrigger system can provide dramatic architecture and adaptable internal design conditions.

What paths will this project take towards final form? We hope to continue developing ideas on these and similar structures. 

Recently Singapore has been opening up its construction market to green design firms. In this process Cross Laminated Timber came across as a key technology in this area, specially in the development of mid rise buildings. Lend Lease developments has been pushing for the integration of CLT structures at taller heights into Singapore's market. Singapore will now allow CLT buildings up to 24m in height, roughly equating to 6 or 7 stories. 

More information can be read here:
http://www.eco-business.com/news/new-timber-technology-game-changer-singapore/

The first board of governors meeting  for review of the UBC Tall Wood project at Brock Commons meets today, October 1st, to cover the 3 main architectural teams bidding on the nearly $40 million, 16-18 story student housing project.  The building is slated to be the tallest wood based building in the world if the project goes ahead as planned being roughly 53m in height. The building will be home to some 383 student housing beds with a total gross square footage of approximately 156,840 sqft (14,570 m^2).

The tall wood project could potentially have a rectilinear shape  due to the site layout. This will produce significant engineering challenges to ensure stability of the tall structure. It would be very interesting to see the various proposals and how each undertakes this world first project. A grant of up to $4 million from the Canadian Wood Council has gone into help fund this project, which may make it more difficult for foreign suppliers to be successful in the bidding stages. The project is also specified to meet a minimum of LEED Gold certification.

What timber technologies do you think will play a major role in the development of this project?

Proposed building site below: