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Factory of the Future Tops Out in Maine
Courtesy Grimshaw
Dubbed the Factory of the Future, The University of Maine Green Energy & Materials (GEM) building recently topped out in Orono, Maine. The new, 60,000-square-foot building will serve as a research and education facility focused on advanced manufacturing, expanding the frontiers of large-format and AI-enabled arrays of additive manufacturing systems to create new markets for sustainable building materials.
The mass timber framing is quickly taking shape: This construction method was selected by the planners at UMaine so that the building would display and celebrate forward-thinking uses of renewable building materials. Designed by Grimshaw with SMRT Architects & Engineers, the building is expected to be completed in the summer of 2026.
The factory area is a grand high-bay space with long spans and a unique roof form. The complex structure of the facility is proposed to be constructed entirely from mass timber.