Mass Timber Market Updates - Jan 2025 - Week Four

Can mass timber revolutionize the way we build in diverse sectors from retail to military? Explore groundbreaking developments as we unveil the Apple Miami World Center, the first Apple store to heavily incorporate mass timber construction, seamlessly merging iconic Art Deco elements with sustainability. Discover how Swinerton's expansion in Hawaii aims to redefine construction services across aviation, hospitality, and more, ensuring tailored solutions with their new Maui office. Each story in this episode promises to broaden your understanding of how mass timber is reshaping architectural norms and pushing the boundaries of traditional construction methods.

Join us as we dive deeper into innovative applications of mass timber, from earthquake-resistant military shelters to eco-friendly urban infrastructure. Learn how the US Army is leading the charge in testing cross-laminated timber shelters against seismic challenges, proving its worth as a reliable building material in extreme conditions. We also showcase a remarkable multi-story car park in Germany, designed by Hermann and Bosch Architects, featuring sustainable design elements like a green roof and photovoltaic systems. This episode promises a wealth of insights into how mass timber is carving out new possibilities within the construction landscape, offering sustainable and innovative solutions across the globe.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:59

Ladies and gentlemen, we are live. This is the moment you all have been waiting for. It's time for the global sensation, the one, the only, the undisputed heavyweight podcast in the world, the Mass Timber Construction Podcast. And now here's Paul Kramer, your host. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, wherever you are in the world today, welcome to the Mass Timber Construction Podcast. My name is Paul Kramer, your host. Welcome to another exciting episode of Mass Timber News from around the world. Thank you, bruce Buffer, veteran voice of the Octagon, for doing the introduction for the podcast for five years now, and don't forget to hit subscribe, like, comment, share anything on our LinkedIn feed. And don't forget to get your manuscript in for our Mass Timber Construction Journal Research Division.

Speaker 1: 2:16

Let's have a look at what's making news around the world this week in Mass Timber Construction land, and first up to the USA and Miami, and Dezeen can exclusively reveal the first photos of the deco-informed Apple Miami World Center, the first Apple store with extensive use of Mass Timber Construction, which opened just recently, on a Friday. Designed by Apple's in-house team, the Apple Miami World Center occupies a standalone pavilion that continues the aesthetic of the previous Apple stores, while nodding to the Art Deco architecture of Miami, the building was inspired by softer, undulating surfaces and the articulation of the local Art Deco architecture to create a lighter, more dynamic result. According to the Apple retail design, bj Siegel, which talked to design In designing the Apple Miami World Center, they paid particular attention to play on the light and the shadow of all surfaces in the pavilion. And if you want to see these impressive photos of the Apple store store, which uses mass timber construction extensively throughout the pavilion, head to our LinkedIn feed and good friends to the show, the podcast and anything social media related to mass timber construction. Swinerton was ranked as Hawaii's fifth largest contractor by Pacific Business News and the company has been operating in Maui for over 60 years. According to the media release that we've got, they have now opened a permanent office in Maui and can better support clients and the team down there, delivering general contracting and construction services within the aviation, hospitality, industrial, retail and luxury markets. If you'd like to read more about this, you could head to Swinerton's website or you could head to our LinkedIn feed and read about Swinerton's opening of the Maui office.

Speaker 1: 4:13

And the US Army continues to test mass timber cross-laminated timber shelters and has now tested a facility that can withstand a one in 250 year earthquake. You may recall we originally spoke about this testing back in november 2024, while the army has now looked at using thermally modified coastal western hemlock as part of their seismic testing regime, and the report says that this shelter withstood the shaking of a very significant earthquake. More details can be found on our linkedin feed, but the testing by the us army engineer research and development center, in conjunction with a whole lot of other people that are associated with the project, said the 600 foot shelter marks the first assembled CLT what they call a bee hut shelter, designed to house troops in temporary or semi-permanent cases, and the testing went extremely well for the bee hut. So if you'd like to see some more, you can see some images and read the full article on our LinkedIn feed. Full article on our LinkedIn feed.

Speaker 1: 5:26

We've recently come into some images of the parking garage done by Herman and Bosch Architects, which is a multi-story oval car park in Germany. The prefabricated CLT ceilings with glue laminated supports the on-site stand of a traditional concrete and steel garage and has been replaced with a mass timber version. The north face is clad with soundproof glass to shield noise from the neighboring residential areas On the south side of the ground. It's landscaped beautifully, with 350 column free parking spaces, storage facilities for 150 bikes, a green roof, photovoltaic system generating renewable energy for 20 electric cars, 20 electric e-bikes. This is an impressive undertaking. If you'd like to see some images of the in construction and the finished concept design, please head to our LinkedIn feed.

Speaker 1: 6:22

And that's it, folks. That's all we've got time for this week in mass timber construction land. It's a short week this week. The news is coming through at a very slow rate at the moment, but we will see that ramp up during the year. Don't forget to get your tickets for the International Mass Timber Conference. Don't forget to listen to the episode with Arnie on just this last week to hear about what's happening there. Make sure you book your flights, flights, accommodation and get on those tours. The tours are nearly finished for, and nearly full for, the March event in Portland, oregon in the United States, and we look forward to catching up with you very, very soon on the podcast. Don't forget to put your manuscript in for the Mass Timber Construction Journal, research Division, and we look forward to bringing you more news next week. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, wherever you are in the world today. This is Paul Kramer signing off on the Mass Timber Construction Podcast. Thank you, bye.