Andersen Construction has been on a journey building in mass timber since 2015 when we installed the first ever domestically produced CLT panels. Since then, we have continued with many mass timber firsts…including rocking CLT shear walls, OSU research labs in an all-mass timber building, and the first ever structural use of mass plywood. With over a dozen mass timber projects built, we have learned many lessons and can now bring greater refinement to the execution of mass timber projects with our teams that are dedicated to managing and erecting mass timber structures.
Timber structures have found additional relevance with the advancement of model-based design, digitized structures and the automation of timber fabrication. We are now building timber structures digitally and using this digitized structural model to layout and survey the building. This same model provides the machine files that drive the shop machinery that exactly fabricates the timber structure for rapid on-site assembly. Timber structures are now perfectly positioned to take advantage of this advancement of design modeling and manufacturing, and we are fortunate in the northwest to have a growing community of professionals with the skills to make institutional and commercial real estate viable in mass timber.
