Mass Timber Construction Podcast
Mass Timber Construction Podcast
Mass Timber Market Updates - September 2025 - Week ThirtySeven
Headlines are easy; proof is better. This week we track real progress you can use: a global seminar that brings steel, concrete, and timber into one hybrid toolkit; a UK system that simplifies glulam frames, CLT floors, and cassette façades; and a practical moisture guide that turns a common risk into a clear plan. We dig into why hybrids are winning on cost, speed, and carbon—and how design teams can standardise details to deliver predictable results on live sites.
We also spotlight hands-on learning. The Think Wood and SUNY construction management workshop in Syracuse offers 2.5 days of practical skills—erection sequencing, vibration criteria, fire and acoustic planning, logistics, and shop drawing review—so students and professionals can move from curiosity to capability. Then we head to Arkansas, where the Anthony Timberlands Center anchors research and making under one roof: wood and metal shops, 3D printing, and an external yard designed for prototyping joints, testing moisture strategies, and validating spans. It’s a living lab that links regional forestry to high‑performance design and transparent carbon accounting.
Finally, we celebrate a civic milestone: Ireland’s first privately developed net‑zero public building, a mass timber crèche and community centre at Altador Gardens. It’s proof that responsible sourcing, fabric‑first envelopes, and smart systems can bring down embodied and operational carbon in everyday buildings—not just flagships. Along the way, we share links, resources, and ways to participate, from the international seminar in Italy to open guides and our LinkedIn updates. If you value practical timber knowledge, subscribe, share this episode with a colleague who needs a hybrid playbook, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are alive. This is the moment you all have been a waiting on.
SPEAKER_00:Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening wherever you are in the world today. Welcome to Mass Timber Construction Podcast. It's another amazing week of updates from around the world. Don't forget that Rotoblast have a mass timber seminar, an international mass timber seminar at their headquarters in Italy on the 1st and 2nd of December of this year. What does it mean? Well, those working with steel and concrete may want to integrate mass timber and hybrid solutions into their project. So this Mass Timber International Seminar is going to be providing those people systems that are able to help transform the way that they design, build, and think about timber as an inclusive material with all other materials as a hybrid composite. So if you want to secure your spot, please head to Rothobias Mass Timber Seminar International in Italy, 1st and 2nd of December 2025. Mass Timber Conference in Innsbruck is just around the corner, so it's related, so you can head to there as well. And uh they are great sponsors and supporters of our podcast, Rothelbust, so please do support them in return. And news out of the UK and more Thistleton Architects has created a market ready timber building system. There is a great JPEG that shows how the superstructure being a glue lamb frame with CLT floor plates and uh cassette sort of wall facade system is is on the their LinkedIn feed, and you can use the download for this particular uh design guide or book to complement the way that you would work with timber. Surprisingly enough, uh we spoke about previously the Danish Technology Institute and Build in Wood community, um, creating a demonstrator. Um, they've also done a booklet on management of moisture, and this is a complementary workbook for a blueprint for sustainable low-carbon buildings, making mass timber accessible, reliable, and scalable. So if you're interested in getting that book, please head to Build in Wood or War Thistleton Architecture, you'll be able to see uh the document there. If you're heading to New York in uh October 20 to 22nd, uh Syracuse in New York State, so upstate, not Manhattan, uh, you will be able to go to the uh Think Wood uh and also the State University of New York, uh, headed up by Paul Cravella, a good friend to the editorial board of our journal and also personal friend of mine in the mass timber construction industry. They're hosting a 2.5 day, two and a half day Think Wood workshop that is going to provide real insights and hands-on experience to look at the way that mass timber can be used in construction management. It's delivered through the construction management faculty and it's going to bring cutting edge mass timber knowledge into the classroom so it can support people with their understanding. So if you're in New York State, upstate, and you're interested in mass timber, you might want to uh register for this particular um workshop. And news out of the University of Arkansas: the Anthony Timberland Center for Design and Materials Innovation is a nearly 45,000 square foot uh building, primarily made of mass timber, includes wood and metal fabrication workshops, a 3D printing lab, external fabrication yard, and a lecture hall. More than 62,000 cubic meters of Arkansas timber was used in the 43 million dollar US dollar facility, which is part of the Faye Jones School of Architectural Design. Mass timber buildings are obviously prefabricated, manufactured, and assembled on site. According to the news report, the new applied research center will focus on Arkansas's timber and wood products and offer students hand-on experience with innovative design and construction materials according to the press release. The building is beautiful. There are two posts and a LinkedIn feed with different types of imagery. If you want to go and have a look at this impressive building, please do, you will not be disappointed. And it's great to see mass timber spreading around the world. And here's some news we don't often hear from a location. It's Ireland, and D-Rez announces Ireland's first public building built in net zero carbon philosophy. Developer DRes has started work on the 3.2 million pound landmark project at Altador Gardens development, and it is an innovative development with Ireland's first net zero public building, which will be a crash and a community center. These facilities primarily constructed using responsibly sourced mass timber products and marks a significant step forward for sustainable construction in Ireland. As a result, the this will be Ireland's first privately developed mass timber public building. Congratulations to the entire team. We look forward to seeing the progress. We have an on-site in construction shot on our LinkedIn feed if you're very interested in having a look. And that's it, folks. That's all we've got time for this week in Mass Timber Construction Land. We hope that you have a great week and that we look forward to catching up with you in the near future for more episodes and more news. Please do not forget to hit subscribe to this podcast on all platforms where you might get good podcasts and also our LinkedIn feed. And if you've got an academic journal, please do send through a manuscript. We'd be very pleased to review it and see it. Uh, and we look forward to catching up with you all very, very soon. A 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.