With the metaphorical sawdust now settled after the annual International Mass Timber Conference (held last week in Portland, OR), we’re sharing some highlights from our end – which included a couple project tours and one incredible turnout for a happy hour!
Mass Timber Mixer
Wednesday marked the midway point for the conference and a DCI co-hosted happy hour with Swinerton, Timberlab, and Rothoblaas at Coopers Hall, located a few blocks south of event central.
And Wowzer! Did this community show up…
Over 300 people attended the event – using the opportunity to connect with fellow industry leaders, grab a drink, and fill up on heavy appetizers, an occasion that lasted well into the evening.
A huge shoutout to everyone who attended, and to our fellow sponsors for making it happen. We’re still downloading all the inspiring conversations that came out of this!
Independence Hall Tour
As part of the Conference project tours, our friends at Timberlab showed off their brand-new mass timber manufacturing facility constructed of—you guessed it—mass timber, specifically CLT. The 190,000-sf production facility streamlines milling and manufacturing of GLT panels, beams, and columns using large‑scale equipment, such as automated material feeding, high‑speed cross‑cutting, and a finger‑jointing system.
DCI was the Engineer of Record for this amazing project, and we were thrilled to help show it off and answer some questions.
Shoutout to DCI’s Arizona Dabrusin and Danny Ferrell for capturing the walk-through!
Shortstack Tour
Tuesday proved to be a tour de force with another unique project on the docket: Shortstack is not only an impressive mass timber development on its own—using a replicable model for building affordable housing in dense urban setting and the courtyard housing typology—its project team leaders were mostly women! From developers Jessy Ledesma (HomeWork Development) and Anna Mackay (Sister City) to our own Shirley Chalupa as the structural engineer, the team consisted of approximately 70% MWESB representation on the design side and 30% representation on the contracting side, and this team brought it!
In Case You Missed It
In other Mass Timber News, DCI’s Heartwood project—a workforce housing development in Seattle and the country’s first building constructed under the new Type IV code—made news (literally) with a spot on CBS News’ America by Design.
The premiere was this past Saturday, but you can view the feature spot below!
