Solid Wood: Case Studies in Mass Timber Architecture, Technology and Design

Over the past 10-15 years a renaissance in wood architecture has occurred with the development of new wood building systems and design strategies, elevating wood from a predominantly single-family residential idiom to a rival of concrete and steel construction for a variety of building types, including high rises. This new solid wood architecture offers unparalleled environmental as well as construction and aesthetic benefits, and is of growing importance for professionals and academics involved in green design.

Solid Wood provides the first detailed book which allows readers to understand new mass timber/massive wood architecture. It provides:

• historical context in wood architecture from around the world
• a strong environmental rationale for the use of wood in buildings
• recent developments in contemporary fire safety and structural issues
• insights into building code challenges
• detailed case studies of new large-scale wood building systems on a country-by-country basis

Case studies from the UK, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italy, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia highlight design strategies, construction details and unique cultural attitudes in wood design. The case studies include the most ambitious academic, hospitality, industrial, multi-family, and wood office buildings in the world.

With discussions from leading architectural, engineering, and material manufacturing firms in Europe, North America and the South Pacific, Solid Wood disrupts preconceived notions and serves as an indispensable guide to twenty-first century wood architecture and its environmental and cultural benefits.

Joseph Mayo practices architecture in the Pacific Northwest where he concentrates on materiality, technology and form for a regionally appropriate building culture. He has worked on a variety of building types, ranging from schools, student housing, university buildings and hospitals. Working with a City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) Advisory Committee, Joseph led an investigation to use wood in applications that go beyond current building codes. He has also been a jury member for wood design awards, served as Regional Associate Director for the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Young Architect Forum (YAF) Chair at AIA Seattle, and has assisted in teaching courses and served on architecture critiques at universities around the Pacific Northwest.