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Capabilities

Mass-Timber Construction

Mass timber has colossal potential to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment. We have the experience to use it with confidence.

Lead Contacts

Ascent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Courtesy KAA Design Group / Nairn Olker
Ascent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Courtesy Swinerton Mass Timber
Ascent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this structural model, yellow denotes timber framing, with gray for concrete and red for steel.
Tom Lee Park in Memphis. Courtesy Studio Gang Architects
The architectural façade for the Canada Pavilion at Expo 2020 is a wind screen formed by timber elements arranged in a lattice geometry. Courtesy EllisDon Construction Ltd.
Chicago Horizon at the 2015 Chicago Architectural Biennial, Illinois. Courtesy Chicago Architecture Biennial
Patrons Insurance Building in Portland, Maine. Robert Benson Photography
New Belgium Brewery in Asheville, North Carolina. Thornton Tomasetti
St Clare's College in Oxford, United Kingdom. Peter Cook/View
Coronado Boathouse & Clubroom in California. Bryan Wayne photo
Coronado Boathouse & Clubroom in California. Bryan Wayne photo
GE Forefront in Welland, Canada. Doublespace Photography
St Clare's College in Oxford, United Kingdom. Peter Cook/View

Lighter and far more sustainable than concrete or steel, mass-timber construction is gaining ground as a primary structural material. Our engineers have experience in designing mass-timber buildings and components in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Making mass timber construction a mainstream option

We’ve analyzed the pros and cons of the various types of mass-timber systems, including cross-laminated timber (CLT), dowel-laminated timber (DLT), glue-laminated timber (glulam) and nail-laminated timber (NLT or nail-lam). And we understand – and have overcome – the challenges involved in getting approvals when codes don’t include provisions for these materials, especially in tall structures.

We engage early with suppliers and local regulatory bodies to ensure that the mass-timber systems we design and deliver will meet the requirements of local authorities. When the research doesn’t exist to back up our designs, we work with testing labs to prove our designs and publish our results to help move the mass-timber industry forward.

Leading the Industry in Tall Mass Timber

In 2017, we published a research project in the CTBUH Journal that examined feasible strategies for building an 800-foot, 80-story timber tower in Chicago. We worked with architects from Perkins+Will and researchers from the University of Cambridge to explore design strategies, code and life-safety implications, and environmental considerations. Today, we’re the structural engineers for the tallest mass timber tower in the world.

Our Team

News & Resources

Vox: How To Build a Wood Skyscraper
October 27, 2022
Skyscrapers are synonymous with concrete and steel, but that’s quickly changing. Thanks to its aesthetic, structural and sustainability benefits, towers constructed of mass timber are popping up in cities around the globe.