The first phase of the Suffolk Downs redevelopment in Revere will include a 3-story innovation building including retail and office-lab space. The structure will be built with cross-laminated timber panels and completed on a fast-track schedule in early 2023 using modular assembly of prefabricated building panels. Image courtesy of Leers Weinzapfel
Developers weighing the use of mass timber building techniques have to decide whether the higher upfront costs of the environmentally-sustainable material is worth the benefits in trendy biophilic designs.
As Boston officials study higher standards for carbon-neutral building materials, a new public-private partnership is offering financial incentives to use local sites as laboratories for mass timber construction. Up to 10 private developments will receive grants and technical assistance from the Mass Timber Accelerator, a program by the Boston Society for Architecture and the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
“It’s not easy to change to a new building material,” said Nicole St. Clair Knobloch, founder of mass timber consultants Olifant, at the accelerator’s recent launch event. “Development is a cost-conscious industry and a risky one and a risk-averse one. Early adopters of any environmentally friendly technology need incentives.”
Opportunities for Savings in Midrises
Mass timber comprises several methods of fabricating wood into building framing as an alternative to the steel or concrete typically used in multistory commercial buildings. Recent Massachusetts building code changes cleared the way for use of mass timber construction in mid-rise buildings, and pioneering developers are testing its potential at projects in South Boston, Roxbury and West End.
At the same time, a working group of Boston officials is studying new zoning regulations to support the city’s Net Zero emissions goals, by regulating the amount of embodied carbon in new developments.
A 7-story mass timber apartment complex at 11 East Lenox St. in Roxbury is scheduled for completion next year. Image courtesy of Monte French Design Studio
Embodied carbon measures the greenhouse emissions generated by building materials, including those used to extract, process and transport them to a site. Mass timber – primarily sourced from Canadian factories – has a carbon footprint roughly half that of conventional construction materials, according to industry research. That makes it a natural choice for many of the midrise multifamily buildings in development, said Alex Yoon, a principal with Monte French Design Studio in Boston.
“In the city of Boston, six to seven stories is the sweet spot because you stay under the high-rise building code requirements, which are more stringent and increase costs,” Yoon said.
At a former parking lot in Roxbury, a 7-story, 34-unit apartment complex is under construction and scheduled for completion in late 2022. Boston Real Estate Collaborative LLC and D2 Development, LLC are partnering on the project, which was designed by Monte French Design Studio.
‘A Kit of Parts’
Nearly a year before the project’s completion, Boston Real Estate Collaborative isn’t waiting for confirmation of mass timber’s benefits before moving ahead with its next venture: an 11-story hotel in West End. Comprising 31 guest rooms at 88 North Washington St., that project will demonstrate another one of mass timber’s benefits, Yoon said: shortened construction timetables in busy urban environments. Scheduled to break ground in 2022, the project is expected to be completed two months earlier than a conventional structure with timber sourced from Canadian supplier Nordic Timber.
Steve Adams
“It’s a full kit of parts, so you’re able to construct it quicker than steel or concrete and you’re savings up to 25 percent of the time for erection,” said Paul Richardson, a principal at architects Buru Happold that has designed half a dozen mass timber projects in the U.S.
Boston developer HYM Investment Group plans to build a three-story mass timber Innovation Center in the first phase of its 16.5 million-square-foot Suffolk Downs redevelopment. Designed by architects Leers Weinzapfel, the 65,000-square-foot cross-laminated timber building will include two stories of office-lab space and ground-floor retail near the MBTA’s Beachmont station in Revere.
Mass timber also is part of redevelopment plans for the Amrheins restaurant property in South Boston, which received BPDA approval in June. The Matteson Cos. is developing an 8-story, 123,400-square-foot office & R&D building using cross-laminated timber, one of the most popular mass timber products, comprising panels of lumber boards stacked in a crosswise pattern.
The mass timber accelerator will host an information session on Oct. 19 on the grant program, for which applications are due on Nov. 19.
