A mass timber ceiling with geometric design and wood connections

Mass Timber

The challenge is indisputable: The building sector accounts for more than 40% of carbon dioxide emissions, a staggering statistic by itself, but even more significant when factoring in the estimated 2.5 trillion square feet of new building stock that will be built in the next 30 years — adding the equivalent of Paris to the planet every single week.

As we look for ways to reduce these impacts, we’re embracing new methods of using existing materials — especially those that are renewable like mass timber. Use of this inexpensive, renewable resource in construction offers substantial benefits: it sequesters carbon, offers the ability to harvest forests in a way that promotes forest health, and can help to rebuild timber and wood product manufacturing industries and revitalize small communities. It’s also resilient, cost-effective, as strong as steel and concrete, and satisfies our need for biophilic connections.

Explore why the use of mass timber is on the rise — and how with the passage of a number of tall mass timber code changes by the International Code Council, the increasing interest in and applications for mass timber construction for commercial markets is destined to grow even further.

Interior of an office building with wood interiors and people and walking and working in the space

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories "New Builds"

CNL "New Builds" is the largest Integrated Project Delivery project in Canada and a leader in mass timber innovation. Using an IPD model, the trio of buildings — the Science Collaboration Centre, the Minwamon Building and the Support Facility — are helping realize a more carbon-literate campus with innovating timber structures and collaborative design.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Architecture Hall

UNL's College of Architecture Expansion checks all the boxes of sustainability, aesthetics and function. As one of the first mass timber constructed architecture schools in the U.S., the four-story building, meticulously integrated into the existing campus, is more than an incubator for aspiring design professionals — it’s a living laboratory — where students have the unique opportunity to study mass timber in a building where they can observe its performance firsthand.

Architectural rendering of a university building with staggered panels composing the facade

Mass Timber Awards

Wood Design Awards, Winner (2017)
Interior Beauty Design Category
Wood WORKS! British Columbia
Architectural Design Winner (2016)
Commercial & Residential Architecture Category
Good Design Awards
Thompson Okanagan Kootenay Commercial Building Awards, Award of Excellence (2018)
Wood Category
Southern Interior Construction Association
State of California Mass Timber Grant (2020)
$40,000 Mass Timber Grant
California GovOps
Popular Choice Winner (2024)
Architecture +Wood, A+ Awards
Architizer
Finalist (2023)
Unbuilt Sustainable Non-Residential Project, A+ Awards
Architizer

Meet our Team

Robert Cesnik, HDR
Senior Architect
Thomas Knittel
Sustainability Design Director
Donald Chong
Design Principal
Jing Kong
Senior Structural Engineer, Mass Timber
Vartan Chilingaryan
Area Building Engineering Services Business Group Manager