Brooklyn is home to New York City’s first mass timber condo building

In the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope, the newly completed Timber House is New York City’s first mass timber condominium building and its largest mass timber project (by height and square footage).

The Brooklyn Home Company and MESH Architectures co-developed and designed Timber House. The six-story condo building was constructed with glued laminated timber, a type of mass timber, produced primarily from softwood trees in second-growth forests that quickly regenerate. The structurally efficient building practice provides fire resistance without relying on gypsum board, which is produced at a higher energy cost.

The Timber House project was also designed with passive-house principles, a building technique that supports healthy and energy-efficient housing environments. In addition to the use of mass timber, the development’s high-performance elements include solar photovoltaic panels and electric car charging stations. Air-source heat pumps provide the heating and air conditioning. Air sealing was completed with Intello+ smart air barriers and Tescon Vana tape. The passive house-quality windows by Yaro are triple-glazed. And the energy-recovering ventilation by Zehnder allows a constant supply of fresh, filtered air, even when the windows are closed.

Other residential features include LED strips by Kelvix, Artemide sconces, and ceiling light artworks by MESH, which also designed the custom flooring. The entries are secured with smart locks by Latch.

The 14 units include studios and one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, ranging in price from $595,000 to $4 million.

Building Team:

Owner/developer: MESH Architectures, co-developed by The Brooklyn Home Company

Design architect and architect of record: MESH Architectures

MEP engineer: Green Solutions

Structural engineer: Silman

General contractor/construction manager: Rise Development

New York Mass Timber Condo int — Courtesy Travis Mark.

New York Mass Timber Condo Bedroom — Courtesy Travis Mark.

New York Mass Timber Int 2 — Courtesy Travis Mark.

Western Washington University, in Bellingham, Wash., 90 miles from Seattle, is in the process of expanding its ABET-accredited programs for electrical engineering, computer engineering and science, and energy science. As part of that process, the university is building Kaiser Borsari Hall, the 54,000-sf new home for those academic disciplines that will include teaching labs, research labs, classrooms, collaborative spaces, and administrative offices.

“The Cabin” community room of Adohi Hall, University of Arkansas.

Mass Timber | May 22, 2024

3 mass timber architecture innovations

As mass timber construction evolves from the first decade of projects, we're finding an increasing variety of mass timber solutions. Here are three primary examples.

Mass Timber | May 17, 2024

Charlotte's new multifamily mid-rise will feature exposed mass timber

Construction recently kicked off for Oxbow, a multifamily community in Charlotte’s The Mill District. The $97.8 million project, consisting of 389 rental units and 14,300 sf of commercial space, sits on 4.3 acres that formerly housed four commercial buildings. The street-level retail is designed for boutiques, coffee shops, and other neighborhood services.

Mass Timber | May 8, 2024

Portland's Timberview VIII mass timber multifamily development will offer more than 100 affordable units

An eight-story, 72,000-sf mass timber apartment building in Portland, Ore., topped out this winter and will soon offer over 100 affordable units. The structure is the tallest affordable housing mass timber building and the first Type IV-C affordable housing building in the city.

Mass Timber | Apr 25, 2024

Bjarke Ingels Group designs a mass timber cube structure for the University of Kansas

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and executive architect BNIM have unveiled their design for a new mass timber cube structure called the Makers’ KUbe for the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design. A six-story, 50,000-sf building for learning and collaboration, the light-filled KUbe will house studio and teaching space, 3D-printing and robotic labs, and a ground-level cafe, all organized around a central core.

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, on a butte in North Dakota

Libraries | Apr 24, 2024

New mass timber Teddy Roosevelt library aims to be one with nature

On July 4, 2026, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is scheduled to open on 93 acres in Medora, a town in North Dakota with under 130 permanent residents, but which nonetheless has become synonymous with the 26th President of the United States, who lived there for several years in the 1880s.

Mass Timber | Apr 22, 2024

British Columbia changing building code to allow mass timber structures of up to 18 stories

The Canadian Province of British Columbia is updating its building code to expand the use of mass timber in building construction. The code will allow for encapsulated mass-timber construction (EMTC) buildings as tall as 18 stories for residential and office buildings, an increase from the previous 12-story limit.