This 275,000 square foot mixed-use project spans five stories, with 158,000 square feet of mass timber office and lab-ready space, over a concrete podium parking garage and warehouse for Dunn Lumber. The project will be located on the Northeast side of Lake Union, with access to the Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop. Weber Thompson's design of Northlake Commons "draws inspiration from the experience of being deep within the woods of the Pacific Northwest."
The high-performance lab-ready office building pays homage to the timber roots of the Dunn family business located on this street from 1931 to today. The structural system is comprised of CLT panels atop glulam columns and girders, with a steel Buckling-Restrained Braced Frame lateral system.
The mass timber structural system will have a lighter footprint than other structural alternatives; a Life Cycle Assessment of the embodied carbon in the timber will be calculated to understand the impact compared to more conventional construction types. The project is pursuing LEED CS Gold and Fitwel Certification.
Heartwood is at the heart of Seattle’s affordable housing initiatives. At eight stories and 70,000 gross square feet in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood, the Community Roots Housing project is the first tall wood building permitted by Seattle and received a $250,000 Wood Innovation grant from the U.S. Forest Service to validate the feasibility of Type IV-C multifamily housing. Mass timber was selected for the opportunity it afforded for an additional floor of units (compared to the more conventional 5-over-2 approach) and for its reduced construction schedule. When completed, Heartwood will provide 126 affordable units to a neighborhood experiencing the pain of the high cost of living.
Serving as the community amenity space for a large new development in Bothell, WA, the Avalon Bothell Commons Clubhouse employs double-height glulam columns, glulam beams, MPP decking, and CLT roofing. This two-story structure is a study on the limits of Mass Timber, utilizing the roof connections as part of the lateral system and having glulam columns act as part of the building envelope. Timberlab worked with Coughlin Porter Lundeen and GGLO to achieve the architectural vision of exposed mass timber while still allowing for hefty timber to timber connections strong enough to withstand lateral movement. Zip-O laminators supplied the glulam, creating custom beam layups to be cut to match the slope of the CLT roof while maintaining structural integrity. Timberlab provided detailing, fabrication, and installation for this project. For years to come, this building will provide the future residents of Bothell Commons with a beautiful amenity space to enjoy with their community.
Timberlab is a full turnkey mass timber manufacturer and fabricator that provides innovative solutions that reduce environmental impact, and create beautiful, high-performance spaces.
Born from Swinerton's legacy of excellence and rooted in the Pacific Northwest's early mass timber projects, Timberlab was launched to accelerate the mainstream adoption of mass timber. With fabrication facilities in Portland, OR and Greenville, SC, we serve the entire U.S., offering precision-engineered glulam components and full project lifecycle support. We break boundaries with transparency, collaboration, and creativity—solving complex challenges and eliminating risk by seeing every project through the eyes of the builder.
