In 2020, Michael Green Architecture completed two new mass timber buildings for the internationally recognized College of Forestry at Oregon State University.

recognized College of Forestry at Oregon

The new George W. Peavy Forest Science Center and the A.A. “Red” Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Laboratory create a dynamic learning, collaboration, and research environment for managing and sustaining working forest ecosystems. The project design approach was created in collaboration with multiple College departments and user groups across various functions, including resource management, ecosystems and society, and science and engineering.

The new George W. Peavy Forest Science Center (83,000 sqft) is connected to the complex natural layers, systems, and networks of a forest. The building is designed as two intersecting bars. A simple academic bar features 20 classrooms, computer rooms, and laboratories. Timber stairwells filled with natural light flank both ends of the academic corridor to connect the landscape and enhance intuitive wayfinding.

An atrium, shaped by towering two-storey Douglas fir columns, creates an expansive space that captures the feeling of being in the forest. The wood structure design is innovative in its response to the high seismic requirements of the site. A CLT rocking wall system, the first of its kind in North America, was developed with shear walls composed of separate sections connected vertically by a post-tension system. This allows the walls to move and self-center during an event, and for components to be selectively replaced on an as-needed basis after the event occurs.

recognized College of Forestry at Oregon

The wood structure is monitored by over 200 sensors that have been installed throughout the structure to gather data on vertical and horizontal structural movement as well as moisture. This data will be used for research into the performance of mass timber structures for the life of the building and will inform the future of good practice in building with mass timber.

The A.A. “Red” Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Laboratory (18,000 sqft) provides dedicated research spaces for developing and testing innovative wood products and technologies. The building structure is a simple and elegant glulam and MPP system that works together to achieve the long span required. The lab space is broken into two bays: the structural testing bay includes a reaction wall and strong floor to support the heavy structural work and testing of structures up to three-storeys high. The manufacturing bay is equipped with advanced robotics and fabrication equipment.

Photo credit: Josh Partee
Source: V2com