By Henry Weinberg, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, and Laura Rushfeldt, AIA, LEED AP

Humans have an innate desire to connect with nature, yet we spend��nearly 90 percent��of our lives indoors. In academic settings, where students learn,��live��and socialize, this disconnect can have real consequences for focus, mental��health��and well-being. Mass timber construction offers a powerful way to bring the warmth,��texture��and psychological benefits of nature indoors, while also advancing sustainability goals and, in many cases, matching or outperforming traditional steel construction on cost.����

A growing body of research shows that biophilic design, the integration of natural elements, particularly wood, into the built environment can improve cognitive performance, creativity and mood while reducing stress and fatigue. Spaces that incorporate visible wood elements are consistently perceived as warmer and more welcoming, fostering social interaction and a stronger sense of belonging. For higher education institutions focused on student wellness and community-building, these qualities are increasingly viewed as essential.��

CBT Architects is applying these principles at��Cornell University’s Maplewood Graduate Housing Phase II, a new off-campus residential community designed to house 800 graduate students. At the center of the project is a freestanding��Community Center, referred to as the Clubhouse, conceived as the social and programmatic “heart” of the development. Entirely constructed from mass timber, the pavilion-style building��demonstrates��how biophilia, sustainability and cost responsibility can align.��

The 11,000-square-foot, single-story Clubhouse will��consolidate��wellness and community programs into a single central location, becoming a highly visible show point and social hub for leisure and connection.����A floor-to-ceiling window wall wraps the public areas and reinforces the project’s strong indoor-outdoor connections by offering unobstructed views of the surrounding landscape and flooding the interior with daylight.��Adjacent to��the building, a generous spill-out terrace supports��indoor-outdoor��dining,��events��and daily relaxation—further strengthening the connection between architecture and nature.��

The Biophilic Advantage of Mass Timber��

Utilizing approximately��84 cubic meters��of mass timber, including glue-laminated (glu-lam) columns and beams and cross-laminated timber (CLT) ceiling panels, the fully exposed structural elements allow occupants to experience the material directly, visually,��spatially��and emotionally.��

This exposure is key to maximizing biophilic��benefit. Unlike steel, which typically requires layers of fireproofing and finish materials, mass timber can remain visible, allowing its natural grain,��color��and texture to define the interior character. The result is a simpler, thinner assembly made up of fewer materials, reducing embodied carbon while enhancing aesthetic impact.��

By centralizing both community programming and mass timber construction into the Clubhouse, the design��consolidates��benefits for all residents. Rather than spreading timber features thinly across multiple buildings, the project achieves maximum impact with a focused investment, creating a shared social hub where biophilic design is experienced daily.��

Rethinking the Cost Conversation��

One of the most persistent misconceptions about mass timber is cost. While early projects carried premiums tied to perceived risk and uncertainty around emerging building systems, as well as limited supply, market conditions have shifted rapidly. As more manufacturers come online and design teams gain experience, mass timber is increasingly achieving cost��parity with, and in some cases outperforming, traditional steel construction.��

At Maplewood, the design and construction team conducted side-by-side cost analyses of steel and mass timber structural systems at multiple design milestones. The results consistently showed comparable material and construction costs. Several factors influenced this��outcome-.����

First, the Clubhouse’s modest scale made it less efficient for steel fabrication shops, while mass timber providers, particularly those��seeking��to expand in the Northeast, were eager to deliver a highly visible, proven project. Competitive bidding at one pricing milestone showed mass timber coming in lower than steel.��

Second,��designing for��mass timber from day one allowed the team to��optimize��the building around material efficiencies. As a single-story, Type V structure with a��relatively small��footprint, the building does not��require��a fire-rated ceiling assembly. This enabled the use of 3-ply CLT panels instead of thicker 5- or 7-ply assemblies, reducing material volume and cost.��

Third, efficient structural spans further streamlined construction. Glu-lam elements are spaced at 15 feet on center, allowing simple one-way spanning without the need for deeper primary framing elements such as girders. This structural clarity simplified mechanical distribution, reduced coordination complexity, and supported faster installation—delivering schedule efficiencies alongside cost control.��

Finally, pricing stability played a role. Steel costs are historically volatile, influenced by global demand,��tariffs��and energy prices. Mass timber pricing, by comparison, has tended to be steadier, offering owners greater predictability during design and procurement.��

Henry Weinberg, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is an Associate Principal at CBT Architects.

Laura Rushfeldt, AIA, LEED AP, is an Associate Principal at CBT Architects.

Read more and see additional project images in the 2026 Higher Education issue of 91��Ƶ.

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By Lindsey Coulter

FAIRFIELD, Calif. — Community leaders, educators, and project partners gathered on Aug. 8 to celebrate the completion of a four-building expansion at Golden West Middle School in Fairfield. The ribbon cutting ceremony and open house marked a significant milestone for Travis Unified School District, as the campus can now welcome its first cohort of sixth-grade students in more than two decades. The sixth graders will join seventh and eight grade students for the 2025-26 academic year.

Work on Golden West Middle School’s campus expansion campus will be completed in two phases. Phase I included the addition of four new 1-story buildings by TimberQuest that will help support the district’s efforts to reorganize grade levels. Together, the buildings add approximately 19,000 square feet of new space to the campus, including classrooms, a teacher’s workroom and restrooms. The project also encompassed site work, adding a staff parking lot as well as new basketball and tennis courts and perimeter fencing. The project team broke ground in February 2025 and was completed on schedule. Work occurred across near 3.7 acres of the nearly 14-acre campus of Golden West Middle School Campus.

“It’s not often, given today’s fiscal pressures, that schools can provide learning spaces that match the excellence of their instructional programs,” said Travis Unified School District Superintendent Tiffany Benson in a statement at the ribbon cutting ceremoney, “but that’s what makes this accomplishment so significant.”

The expansion was delivered using TimberQuestTM, a prefabricated mass timber building solution which adds permanent, high-quality learning environments that support the district’s long-term vision for growth, flexibility and student wellbeing. Travis Unified School District leaders selected TimberQuest’s DSA pre-approved solution, allowing for expedited design and permitting. General contractor XL Construction was able to construct the buildings in only six months, delivering the buildings in time to open for the new school year.

The project team also included structural engineer Daedalus, contractor Elevated Construction Services, mass timber and CLT provider Kalesnikoff Mass Timber, general contractor XL Construction and architect Aedis Architects.

“This was truly a collaborative effort,” said Nick Cardin, Project Executive at XL Construction. “The district had a clear vision, and we were proud to help bring it to life quickly and in a way that prioritizes students and educators.”

The project will now enter Phase II, projected to end in August 2026, which includes demolition and removal of the existing administration building and construction of a new multiuse and administration building.

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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University’s future STEM Teaching and Learning Facility will be the first in Michigan to use an innovative wood product, rather than concrete and/or steel, for its load-bearing structure.

Known as mass timber, this framing style uses large solid or engineered wood. The $100 million facility will be constructed of glue-laminated wooden columns and cross-laminated timber, or CLT, a relatively new product for the floors and ceilings.

“As a leading public research university, MSU has the fantastic opportunity to showcase these innovative and sustainable construction methods in the state of Michigan,” said Satish Udpa, MSU’s acting president. “I am delighted to see university operations, including building construction, pull from our state’s history as a lumber leader and mesh with the engineering capabilities of advanced materials.”

CLT is a wood panel made from gluing layers of solid wood at cross-grain to result in a lightweight and strong panel. It’s been used in Europe for more than 20 years, with recent interest in Canada and the U.S., especially on the West Coast.

“We compared mass timber with other framing methods and were intrigued by how far wood has come as a building material,” said John LeFevre, MSU’s Planning, Design and Construction director. “A major advantage is the speed of construction – the panels can be assembled very quickly.”

The new building will be constructed around the former Shaw Lane Power Plant, adjacent to Spartan Stadium. The renovation will include a student science studio space and a vibrant commons area with a cafe. Two new mass timber wings will offer 117,000 square feet of modern teaching labs, responding to STEM course demand, which has increased 40 percent in the last 10 years at MSU. The project architect is IDS with Ellenzweig Architecture, IDEO Design and Sasaki Design. Granger Construction Company is the construction manager.

The pleasing aesthetics of exposed wood also create a warm, inviting and atypical environment for learning science.

“I am excited to see the educational, research and outreach opportunities that the building itself promises to many academic units and to our land-grant mission,” said Ron Hendrick, dean of MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “It is an interdisciplinary platform encompassing forestry, construction management, biosystems engineering and beyond, and can serve as a catalyst to develop this new technology in Michigan.”

Many believe the MSU building will catalyze additional mass-timber construction in the state, which might lead to establishing CLT manufacturing in Michigan.

“Michigan is ideally situated to become a leader in mass-timber manufacturing,” said Mark Rudnicki, Michigan Forest Biomaterials Institute executive director. “We have abundant forest resources that are managed sustainably and the manufacturing know-how. But there is not a building CLT manufacturer in the central U.S.”

Michigan DNR officials agree.

“Having a CLT manufacturer in Michigan would not only create green jobs using sustainable resources, but also provide the financial resources and incentives that are needed to restore and conserve healthy, diverse and productive forests that provide so many other benefits,” said Debbie Begalle, state forester and chief of the Forest Resources Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The building is slated to open in fall 2020 with classes beginning in January 2021. The wood panels are being manufactured in Quebec and will arrive on campus in April.

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But the campus, home of the Razorbacks, is precisely where the project is located and the cabin concept isn’t the location of a backwoods thriller but a national design collaborative led by  (Boston),  (Fayetteville, AR),  (St. Louis), and  (Philadelphia), created the project, now under construction.

The 708-bed Stadium Drive Residence Halls feature exposed, locally harvested wood structural elements made from mass timber. And what is this “mass timber?” According to the website (produced by the The Softwood Lumber Board, a Washington, D.C.-based industry funded group that promotes uses of softwood lumber products in outdoor, residential and non-residential construction), mass timber is a category of framing styles often using large panelized solid wood construction. These include cross-laminated timber (CLT), nail-laminated timber, glue-laminated timber, dowel-laminated timber or glulam panels for floor and wall framing.

The University of Arkansas project used CLT for its wooden columns, beams and cross-bracing, which are all visible in the interior. The structural columns and beams are made of glulam, where layers of wood all facing the same direction are laminated together under pressure. Part of the idea, according to a profile in The , was to “to present a sense of warmth, and to connect students with Arkansas’s local ecology” and is expected to be finished in 2019.

Clocking in at a staggering 202,027 square feet, the Stadium Drive Residence Halls are a pair of five-story buildings festooned with a zinc-hued paneling, whilst copper-colored panels are arranged such that they created the illusion of floating against their backdrop.

The three residence halls converge upon a plaza and also feature classrooms, dining facilities, performance spaces, administrative offices and faculty housing as well as the maker-spaces that have become de rigueur on contemporary campuses.The buildings themselves arc around three courtyard areas, and each hall has a double-height ground floor lobby outfitted with floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the local flora.

Att the end of each residence hall floor is a large study room, which will be lit at night and serve as luminous attractants for the entire campus. In keeping with the homespun vernacular, students access the northern building’s main entrance via a covered “front porch.” Likewise, the so-called “cabin” is the central room that conjoins the hall’s two wings. The cabin features a hearth, community kitchen and lounge spaces, topped by a green roof.

The project will cost between $75.5 million and $78.1 million, which will be funded through university housing cash reserves as well as university housing supported bonds and gifts from potential donors.

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