The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 gave local building officials the jitters about the use of structural wood in commercial buildings. But a recent installation of cross-laminated timber decking in a one-story McDonald’s may mark a new era, at least for low-rise mass timber.
Although the 19,000-sq-ft McDonald’s marks the first use of CLT in a Chicago building, officials say they are not about to allow tall mass timber buildings any time soon.