One Of The Largest Mass-Timber Buildings Is Made From Trees Killed By Bugs

T3, formerly the largest mass-timber building in the United States, spans nearly 21,000 sq m (226,000 sq ft) across seven stories. Interestingly, this wooden structure—constructed by Michael Green Architecture—was built using trees that were killed off by insects.

To construct the exposed wood columns, beams, and floors that bring a sense of “organic warmth and beauty” to the real-estate office, the architects chose to use glulam and nail-laminated timber sourced from trees that succumbed to mountain pine beetles.

According to Dezeen, the Minneapolis structure was the architectural firm’s “prototype” concept to introduce the idea of commercial mass-timber buildings back in 2016, opening the doors for it to work on similar wood-based projects across the country.

In addition, the company revealed T3’s wooden façade allowed it to be built at a quicker rate compared to similar-sized concrete- or steel-framed buildings. Construction was completed in just 10 weeks, with each story just taking nine days to build.

The “sustainable, renewable, and structurally predictable” project was complemented with steel, masonry, and accent materials to evoke the feeling of a classic urban loft—filled with comfortable and customizable workspaces that expand into the outdoors.

Founder Michael Green and Senior Associate Maria Mora told the site the building stored 3,646 metric tons of carbon dioxide and avoided 1,411 metric tons of carbon emissions—equivalent to 966 cars for a year—by using a timber structure instead of concrete.

“T3’s authentic mercantile timber frame design, modern technology, inspiring style, commitment to sustainability, connection to outdoors, flexible and efficient workspaces, and expansive amenities have created a new office environment,” explained MGA.

“[This new office environment] has become a recruiting and retention tool for tenants such as Amazon and Facebook, located in some of our other T3 projects. T3 is not just an answer to a reimagined office environment but is the new standard,” it added.

[via Dezeen and DLR Group, images via Ema Peter / v2com Newswire]