Mass timber buildings - Durability and safety

[DCReid]

This is a general question as I don't know how these buildings are constructed. I just saw this article about Houston but I know other cities are building mass timber office buildings. Are these building reinforced with metal and concrete? How durable could they be? Would you feel safe if you worked in one?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/first-...s-ground/ar-BB1maOEz?ocid=BingNewsSearch

[Alpha]

On the summit of Feldberg mountain, northwest of Frankfurt am Main, there is since 1950 a 69.1 metres tall highrise-like telecommunication tower, whose upper floors are made of wood without metal elements ( https://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=41551 ). The fact that this tower still stands in spite of its exposed location shows that it is in principle possible to build such objects durable.

[dchan]

There's been a big movement in the energy-efficient and carbon-neutral design sector in recent years.

The initial primary design target has been to reduce operational energy usage (electricity, HVAC) because it was such a low-hanging fruit. The typical building constructed in the 20th century (and even 21st century) is pure crap in terms of energy efficiency. Their roofs and walls are leaky and lack insulation, and their windows leak tons of heat and air. So just making a building airtight, adding plenty of roof insulation & reflective roof material, and installing energy-efficient windows has done wonders in reducing HVAC needs.

Reducing carbon-usage beyond reducing operational energy usage is more difficult. The next major step is through reducing embodied carbon. Embodied carbon is the amount of carbon expended during the construction of the building, including methods and materials used. Both steel and cement manufacturing releases an exorbitant amount of CO2 into the atmosphere, some of the worst in any industry. So reducing the amount of steel and cement used in a building would drastically cut down on embodied carbon emissions.

This is where mass timber comes into play. Trees act as a carbon sink (up to a certain age). By using lumber instead of steel & cement, you are drastically reducing the initial embodied carbon in new construction.

Unlike modern wood-frame construction, mass timbers come in beam & column sections that are much, much thicker than a typical 2x4 or 2x8. This not only increases the inherent strength of the structural sections, but also makes it more fire resistant. When a fire occurs, the outside section of the mass timber chars, which helps protect the inner sections and helps maintain the strength of the mass timber.

Mass timbers are no longer a single solid piece of wood from a tree trunk. Old growth forests are protected, and newer lumber forests are still too young to produce such thick lumber. Instead, most mass timber consists of Cross-Laminated Timbers (CLTs), which are essentially made from several 2x4s glued & pressed into a single thick structural section.

You can read more about CLTs here:

https://www.naturallywood.com/products/cross-laminated-timber/

[woodrow]

Walmart is building a huge new campus in Bentonville. The office buildings are using mass timber construction. 2.9 million square feet - https://corporate.walmart.com/about/newhomeoffice/our-approach/mass-timber

[muertecaza]

One of my favorite new buildings in Tempe, AZ used CLT. Here are some studies, videos and websites about it.

https://www.woodworks.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Beam-on-Farmer-Case-Study.pdf

https://rsparch.com/project/the-beam-on-farmer/

https://vimeo.com/947016585

https://www.flipsnack.com/9959A58A9F7/the-beam-on-farmer/full-view.html

[scalziand]

The Burritt Library expansion at Central Connecticut State University is being built with mass timber.

https://www.ccsu.edu/facilitiesmanagement/major-facilities-projects

[Changing City]

The University of British Columbia has an 18 storey wood frame hall of residence called Tallwood House. It has concrete core elevator shafts (Vancouver is in an earthquake zone) for seismic stability, but the rest of the building is built with CLT floor panels supported on glue-laminated timber and parallel strand lumber columns.


[UBC]

There's a 17 storey social housing building and community centre under construction Downtown, with the same construction technique, and an 8-storey non-market housing building under construction in Grandview in Vancouver


[City of Vancouver]

There are several woodframe office buildings proposed in the city, and the first to get built is next to a SkyTrain station in East Vancouver (now confirmed as the new HQ for provincial insurer ICBC). It doesn't have a concrete core: "The honey-combed-shaped timber frame is a perimeter-braced seismic structure that connects with four internal cross-laminated timber (CLT) shearwalls. This structural exoskeleton will be the tallest timber-braced frame in North America."


[Changing City blog]

[pdxtex]

Considering most 5 over 1's appear to be framed with pine 2x4's, mass timber seems oodles better.

[SwiftGamer]

Example from my region that is UC would be Fahle Terrasses it is by architecture firm LUMIA & with Tallinn University of Technology and ETH Zurich. Building will host insurance company If... and is the first timber-framed (CLT) high-rise building in Estonia. 8 floor 33m the core with lift Shafts and stairwell.




Source of pictures is official website for project: FAHLE

[muertecaza]

https://woodcentral.com.au/why-milwaukee-the-midwest-sparks-new-wave-of-timber-skyscrapers/

Why Milwaukee? The Midwest Sparks New Wave of Timber Skyscrapers

[mrnyc]

^ very interesting.

yes, list us the problems with mass timber buildings too when you get a chance.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Anyone have some insight or theories on how mass timber manufacturing could become more scalable and cost efficient? Or why it's seemingly taking so long for the cost to come down?

For such an impressive building material, with huge upsides in terms of sustainability and carbon emissions, the huge downside seems to remain the high price.

In the most simplest terms, mass timber is manufactured by glueing and laminating pieces of wood together, to create larger, and stronger "pieces" of wood. I'm certainly no engineer, or economist, so I'm just curious as to why mass timber remains to be considered such an expensive building material and construction method.

[lajthabalazs]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Anyone have some insight or theories on how mass timber manufacturing could become more scalable and cost efficient? Or why it's seemingly taking so long for the cost to come down?

For such an impressive building material, with huge upsides in terms of sustainability and carbon emissions, the huge downside seems to remain the high price.

In the most simplest terms, mass timber is manufactured by glueing and laminating pieces of wood together, to create larger, and stronger "pieces" of wood. I'm certainly no engineer, or economist, so I'm just curious as to why mass timber remains to be considered such an expensive building material and construction method.

My theory is that it's the market setting the price. And because it's a substitute for a widely used product (concrete beams) there's a latent demand. If price of engineered wood drops below concrete, demand increases as builders shift to wood. And that pulls the price back up.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by lajthabalazs

My theory is that it's the market setting the price. And because it's a substitute for a widely used product (concrete beams) there's a latent demand. If price of engineered wood drops below concrete, demand increases as builders shift to wood. And that pulls the price back up.

Interesting theory. I'll have to quote your post here in the NB mass timber thread... I wonder how if an opportunity exists for mass timber manufacturing and/or warehousing at the Lorneville industrial park.

[Notonfoodstamps]

201 Pratt Street in Baltimore will be mass timber as is Under Armor’s new HQ

[Glow Fun City]

All of the main timber arches have now been installed for the roof of Vancouver's new PNE Amphitheatre ("Freedom Mobile Arch"), CLT roof deck installation is in progress. Still lots of work left to go before FIFA World Cup next June!













Photos by me during PNE Fair, Aug 30th 2025

[LeonUk]

I was talking to a friend recently who recommended charred wood/shou sugi ban (something like this https://timbersol.co.uk/product/anthracite-grey-larch-cladding/ ) for my upcoming project, and I thought it could be an interesting material for larger buildings, especially high-rises. I know it’s mainly used in low-rise residential or small-scale projects, but I’m wondering why it’s not more commonly seen in high-rise facades.

My friend mentioned how durable and low-maintenance charred wood is, and I’ve started to think about its potential in skyscrapers. It definitely offers a unique aesthetic and fire-resistant properties. A few things I’m wondering:

Has anyone seen charred wood used on the facades of high-rise buildings?
Why do you think it hasn’t gained more popularity for urban skyscrapers?

[202_Cyclist]

Another consequence of Trump’s beautiful tariffs.

https://www.dezeen.com/2025/10/01/edison-skyscraper-neutral-milwaukee-tariffs/

[Alpha]

We should not forget the airship hangars built by the US Navy in 1942/1943. From the 17 hangars built, 5 are still existing. One of them in Tillamook, Oregon houses today an aircraft museum ( https://www.tillamookair.com/hangar-b ).