Emory Point is a vibrant, mixed-use urban infill development located in the historic Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta. The complex provides retail and residential living options to employees working at the adjacent global headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Emory Healthcare, Emory University and a number of other schools. From the outside, Emory Point may look like a straightforward project, but a number of factors help it stand out. Wood facilitated quick installation, which allowed leases to be signed more quickly. And the environmental benefits of the wood structure, already recognized with EarthCraft certification, further emphasize the overall ecological benefits of this mixed-use development. Among them is Emory Point’s contribution to a new ‘pedestrian community.’
Wood-frame podium construction is nothing new, particularly for Seattle, Washington. But when developers built the Marselle Condominiums, they did something new by literally taking wood to the next level. By designing the 160,000-ft2 (14,864-m2) complex to meet Type IIIA construction requirements, they were able to build five and one-half floors of wood over a two-story concrete podium deck. Wood's environmental attributes helped the building meet the Master Builders Association Built Green program, but the developer said cost was the primary motivator for choosing a wood-frame structure. He estimated that a concrete building would have cost about 30 per cent more and a steel building would have taken much longer to construct.
The new 160,000 square foot, 5-story Earth Sciences Building (ESB) will house the departments of earth and ocean sciences, statistics and mathematics and the dean of science. The ESB is a centre of discovery and learning that embodies the impressive academic and physical scope of the UBC campus. The ESB is a revolutionary structure, not just for its confident use of new products, but also for the way it uses established products in exciting ways. New solutions, applications, and innovations used throughout construction surpass anything previously done.
PROJECT
University of British Columbia – Earth Sciences Building
Modern six-story light-frame wood construction in British Columbia (B.C.) incorporates highly-detailed, researched and safe solutions. Mid-rise building solutions currently being developed and refined in B.C. will lead to more sustainable communities and affordable housing solutions that will positively change the face of North American cities.
The trend toward taller wood buildings in British Columbia began in 2009 when a legislative change increased the allowable height of wood-frame residential structures from four stories to six. Focusing on a six-story wood-frame development in Kamloops, BC, this case study examines the benefits of wood in multi-story buildings—including a reduced carbon footprint, energy efficiency, seismic performance, strength, durability and fire safety.
