Coincidence or a Prediction of Things to Come?
2 of the 3 Tallest Mass Timber Buildings in North America are point supported CLT.
Brock Commons in BC - at 18 stories (17 over 1) was the tallest mass timber building in North America for several years. As a point supported system, it really opened the eyes of many as to the possibilities of this framing style.
Ascent in Milwaukee surpassed the height of Brock Commons. Ascent is not a point supported system.
But the 1510 Webster in Oakland was built as the 2nd tallest in the US, with a total of 19 stories.
What does this indicate about the future of point supported tall mass timber projects?
Of course it's difficult to predict, but no doubt it will continue to see significant use as taller projects look to radically compress construction schedules.
One of the current limitations on point supported is the column spacing in the weak axis grid dimension of the panels. This is needed for now since doing something otherwise, meaning having one or both weak axis edges of the panel being unsupported, would require fixed panel to panel connections.
While there are products on the market, and some testing has been done, those products would need to be approved through a variance process. Also, it would mean thicker panels. Most point supported panels are currently 5-ply minimum, or thicker is some or all of the panel is exposed and required to provide a fire-resistance rating.
For those interested in pointed supported mass timber - both its benefits and its limitations - check out quick flip through below 👇
#masstimber #highrise #structuralengineering #construction
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1moThat's amazing