CISION NEWSWIRE — Be one of the first to hear about Google’s new 180,000 square foot mass timber pilot project at the virtual 2021 International Mass Timber Conference. Google will unveil the project for the first time, Tuesday, March 30 at 8:15 AM Pacific Time. The virtual presentation of the project will be hosted by Michelle Kaufmann and David Gensemer of Google, Natalie Telewiak of MGA, and Dave Beck of XL Construction. The presentation will describe the journey from a concept in Google’s R&D Lab, through design, and now construction. It will include the procurement process and lessons learned from a 2-story mockup. This pilot project will pave the way for Google’s future mass timber developments.

Presenters:
Michelle Kaufmann · Director, R+D for the Built Environment · Google
David Gensemer · Real Estate Development Executive · Google
Natalie Telewiak · Principal · Michael Green Architecture
David Beck · Executive Vice President · XL Construction

Attendance at the 2021 International Mass Timber Conference also includes a variety of virtual tours of innovative and exciting mass timber projects and facilities from around the world, including:

Tour #1: adidas North America Headquarters
Sponsored by D.R. Johnson Wood Innovations
This LEED Gold project enhances adidas’ Portland, Oregon, campus with a new arrival of two signature buildings—the 182,000 square foot North Building and the 31,000 square foot South Building. This virtual tour will discuss the goals of the project including sustainability, design, and function along with the realization of these goals through rigorous planning & team selection, off-site manufacturing, and construction. You will hear from several members of the project team to discuss their roles in these unique structures.

Tour #2: Sustainable Wood From Sustainable Forests
Sponsored by Oregon Forest Resources Institute
Mike Cloughesy, Director of Forestry with the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, will be your guide to Sustainable Wood from Sustainable Forests. This virtual tour explores the concepts of sustainable forestry and wood products as a sustainable solution for buildings. In order for architects and engineers to feel comfortable using wood including mass timber in their buildings they need to understand the benefits of wood, the sustainable way that forests are managed, the laws that govern forest management and the forest certification systems that are used. This virtual tour should increase your comfort level for designing and building with sustainable wood from our sustainable forests.

Tour #3: Freres Lumber Co. MPP Plant & Santiam Canyon School District
Sponsored by USNR
Freres Lumber’s Mass Ply Panel facility, built in 2017, is a $40M private investment in the heart of the Santiam Canyon, a key location for the future of the mass timber industry. The 180,000 square foot facility, houses equipment designed specifically to produce the world’s only Mass Ply Panels (MPP). MPP is a veneer-based, patented, structural composite lumber product designed as an alternative to concrete, steel, and cross-laminated timber (CLT). In addition, see an all wood rigid frame structure with a 92’ span and an entire gymnasium built out of MPP columns, beams, walls, and roof.

Tour #4: Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design
Sponsored by Skanska
The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design is a 40,000 square foot classroom building on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. The virtual tour through the building will be hosted by Skanska Project Solutions Director Jimmy Mitchell and building director Shan Arora. The tour will focus on the mass timber technology, stories and impacts that went into this project being a model for deep green construction in the hot and humid southeast. The building is expected to receive full Living Building Challenge certification in March 2021.

Tour #5: EDGE Suedkreuz Berlin
Sponsored by Cree Buildings
With approx. 32.000 m², the EDGE Suedkreuz Berlin project is the largest timber hybrid building in Germany so far. The project has been developed by EDGE Technologies and will host the new headquarters for the energy supplier Vattenfall in Germany.

Stunning design combined with forward-thinking urban sustainability: a workplace for the future. Part of a larger re-development trend in Berlin’s “Schöneberger Linse,” this attractive two-building complex will house Vattenfall’s headquarters, among others. In addition to heightened sustainability due to timber-hybrid building materials, a central aim of the project was to provide employees with various environments to choose from during their time at work. The flexible interior planning opportunities of the CREE system were especially advantageous here, facilitating a mix of open and informal meeting areas to complement more conventional office spaces.

Tour #6: Wingspan Event Center & Hidden Creek Community Center
Sponsored by Swinerton Mass Timber
Located just west of Portland, Oregon, two new mass timber buildings are attracting a lot of attention. The Wingspan Conference and Event Center, with its 80,000 square feet of CLT and glulam roof structure, and the 50,000 square foot Hidden Creek Community Center are an example to how the public sector can harness the advantages of mass timber construction. Take a tour and learn from Swinerton Builders, the City of Hillsboro, and Washington County representatives, on how these projects came to fruition and the procurement method which enabled their success.

Tour #7: A.A. “Red” Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Laboratory
Sponsored by TallWood Design Institute
One of the first buildings to employ structural MPP (mass plywood panels), the A.A. “Red” Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Laboratory is defined by its massive 12,500 square foot research bay made of, and for, innovative timber building products. The Emmerson lab is a world-class timber engineering facility dedicated to furthering research, innovation and collaboration across disciplines and professions in the timber design, engineering, fabrication, and construction sector. The building serves as the headquarters for TallWood Design Institute and facilitates advancement of the timber sector through applied research, product development, testing, and professional education.

Tour #8: Katerra CLT Factory & Catalyst Building
Take a tour of Katerra’s cross-laminated timber (CLT) factory for a glimpse into its daily operations. At 270,000 square feet, the plant is the largest single-use CLT facility in North America. We’ll then explore the Catalyst, at 150,000 square feet it is the first office building in the state of Washington constructed out of CLT. Catalyst showcases new construction techniques and materials that are more sustainable and more efficient.

For more information on these tours and all the exciting activities at the 2021 International Mass Timber Conference, visit: masstimberconference.com
IMTC is produced by Forest Business Network in cooperation with the wood design experts at WoodWorks-Wood Products Council.