Method Studio, Okland Construction and BHB Structural Engineers are collaborating on the five-story Baltic Pointe office building in Draper, Utah, that serves as a pilot project to explore the practicality of mass timber for future commercial construction throughout the Mountain West.
“Not only is mass timber conducive to Utah’s climate initiatives, it also provides for faster builds that are just as strong and safe as traditional buildings, providing one more tool to help meet the region’s growing construction needs,” says Steve Marshall, former assistant director of Wood Innovation at the U.S. Forest Service and consultant to the project’s investment partners: Utah-based start-up studio Philo Ventures and commercial real estate developer and management company Gardner. More than 1,500 mass timber projects have been constructed or are in design in the U.S., although few are in the Mountain West. Mass timber is largely prefabricated off site and pieced together like a giant puzzle, so proponents say it facilitates shorter construction times completed by a smaller labor force while also offering a greener alternative to CO2-intense steel and concrete buildings.