Mass timber is emerging all across North America. Beyond the benefits of natural materials and visible structures, the capabilities of industrialized offsite construction are beginning to change the model of delivery for an increasing range of buildings.
When a California owner-developer proposed the first mass timber building in the state, they chose the experience, scope, and qualifications carefully, and the entire mass timber package was delivered on a train from Quebec, Canada.
California joined international code trends acknowledging the performance and safety of mass timber construction types in September of 2022.
Mass timber columns, beams, and floor slabs are manufactured offsite and used most commonly for the load-bearing core elements of the building. The CLT panels (Cross-Laminated Timber) get a lot of attention but they are one part of a system in which post and beam elements can be made of glue-laminated timber or hybrid systems created with steel and concrete.
Unlike commodity lumber, the elements are created exactly for the project in a kit of parts. This introduces a new dynamic that is often less visible in the media attention on cranes rapidly erecting mass timber structures, or new factories coming online.
The tragic wildfires in northern California had already introduced a demand for rapid rebuilds, with more fire-resistant construction. The first Quebec prefab systems to reach the west were less publicized than mass timber, as high-end residential clients looked to the most experienced and custom offsite partners to rebuild towns like Malibu in 2019.
Where does offsite and modular manufacturing stand amid a recession, and what impact does a recession have on our industry?
Trying to weather this alone is tough and that’s why Daniel Small and Gary Fleisher, the Modcoach, are hosting a Da Vinci Offsite Construction Roundtable entitled Preparing for a Recession starting Feb 9th.
Although the scales may be different, students of logistics will see patterns in the practices of prefabrication experts from vertical companies who take responsibility for distant job sites.
These companies refined strategies using marshaling yards for effective crane access in tight job sites, and sometimes even use the back-haul from their deliveries creatively as the pandemic brought shortages of various products nationwide.
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Gary Fleisher, Contributing Editor
