Mass Timber Market Updates - May 2025 - Week Eighteen

Timber is taking over the world, one remarkable structure at a time. From concert halls to skyscrapers, sustainable mass timber construction is revolutionizing architecture across the globe, and we're bringing you the latest innovations.

The UK's Mass Timber Centre for Excellence has unveiled its £1.5 million investment in cutting-edge manufacturing equipment, including an impressive vacuum press system that's changing the game for engineered wood products. We share exclusive images of this technology that few get to see up close. Meanwhile, the iconic wooden roof at Portland's PDX airport has reached new heights of popularity by starring in DJ Avalanche's latest music video – proving that mass timber isn't just sustainable, it's becoming a cultural phenomenon.

Japan's 2025 Expo in Osaka will feature a breathtaking circular CLT pavilion that reimagines the relationship between architecture and visitors, while Holland's ambitious Nice Timber Tower soars 140 metres into the sky with its revolutionary wooden elevator core and concrete-free construction. Perhaps most surprising is Middle Georgia Regional Airport's $13.4 million guitar-shaped terminal, constructed primarily from southern yellow pine – a perfect harmony of regional identity and sustainable building practices.

We're also thrilled to announce the university teams competing in the 2025 Autodesk Challenge Cup, where the next generation of designers will showcase mass timber solutions for "smarter building for a translational way of living." Don't miss our special guest episode featuring Bonier Ofeig and Julie Abington discussing how New Zealand revolutionized social housing through mass timber years before the rest of the world caught on. Subscribe now to stay on the cutting edge of the material that's reshaping our built environment – literally and figuratively.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ladies and gentlemen, we are live.
This is the moment you all havebeen waiting for.
It's time for the globalsensation, the one, the only,

(00:24):
the undisputed heavyweightpodcast in the world the Mass
Timber Construction Podcast.
And now here's Mark Cramer,your host.

(00:48):
Good morning, good afternoon orgood evening wherever you are
in the world today, welcome tothe Mass Timber Construction
Podcast.
My name's Paul Cramer, yourhost.
Thank you for listening eachweek.
Don't forget the special guestepisode that just popped, with
Bonier Ofeig and Julie Abingtonfrom New Zealand, who really
revolutionised things in thesocial housing game many, many

(01:10):
years ago, and we are nowplaying catch up.
So if you want to hear moreabout how mass timber shaped the
way social housing worked inNew Zealand, you can listen to
that episode.
It's a really, really goodepisode and thank you to the two
gents for joining me.
Let's have a look at what'smaking news around the world
this week.
In mass timber constructionland and the Mass Timber Centre

(01:31):
for Excellence in the UK offersthe most advanced mass timber
manufacturing equipment, locallycommercial, available CNC
machine in the country, machinein the country, and it is
supported by the ScottishFunding Council and host
institution Edinburgh and APAUniversity.

(01:53):
The innovation campus at BE-STwill now house a 1.5 million
pound newly acquiredstate-of-the-art mass timber
post-processing equipment, asuper blower extraction system,
and you can check out all thenews around this particular
project, including having a lookat their impressive vacuum
press system.
If you've never seen a vacuumpress before, you can have a

(02:15):
look at how a billet is laid upinside a vacuum press.
You can head to our linkedinfeed to see all the details.
And when you ventured to theinternational mass timber
conference Conference inPortland this year and you went
through PDX and you looked up,you will see the amazing roof
structure.
Well, that amazing roofstructure has now made it into a

(02:37):
music video clip by DJAvalanche, and you can see the
full video clip by heading toour LinkedIn feed and then
clicking on the link there tohave a look at the PDX wooden
roof structure in the background.
The music might not be yourtaste, but the video and the
graphics are certainly very goodto see.
There are some more impressiverenders of the big ring, the

(03:00):
circle of life and circulareconomy at the Japan Expo 2025,
osaka.
The forest-like pavilion madeof CLT creates a seamless
connection between exterior andinterior environment, between
which the exhibitors and thearchitecture form part of the
interplay in the in-betweennessthat expands the concept of

(03:22):
circularity and circulation.
This is an impressive series ofphotos.
If you want to have a look atit, please head to our LinkedIn
feed.
In concept designs andstructural sort of highlights
have been released for the NiceTimber Tower building, the
high-rise architectural buildingin Holland devised and designed
by me architects and plannersin the Netherlands.

(03:44):
The nice tower is an impressive140 meter tall building made
entirely of timber andrepresents the next step in
revolution of circular timberhigh-rise construction.
The tower delivers itssustainability through wood
embracing the facade, the woodenelevator core and's fully
bio-based, entirely concretefree ground floor to lift the

(04:07):
core and the supportingstructure, and it reduces co2
emissions by comparing it totraditional buildings.
The building offerssustainability, inclusivity in
residential program in responseto increasing pressure for urban
space, so that's urbandensification.
If you want to have a look atthe renders for this, you know
where to go.
I thought over the many years Ihad seen it all in mass timber,

(04:30):
until I saw a brand new guitarshaped airport terminal in
middle georgia regional airportthat is going to be produced
from mass timber.
This, what you see, is what youget Country style bird's eye
view of a guitar sitting on itsside as a building on the ground
is part of the $13.4 millionproject that will be fully

(04:53):
funded for the 2025 Macon BibCountry Industrial Authority
Construction Fund.
According to the constructionrelease documents, the terminal
at Middle Georgia RegionalAirport will be built primarily
from southern yellow pine andthe project will be 90% of
Georgia's forests privatelyowned and material provided to

(05:16):
the project.
You want to have a look at it,you know where to go and just
for those in Australia, theAutodesk Challenge Cup hosted by
Prefab Oz and Autodesk are theprimary sponsor for this
particular event.
We have now got our teamregistrations in for the
Challenge Cup for 2025, curtinUniversity, deakin University,

(05:39):
rmit University, university ofMelbourne and Western Sydney
University, and I've been atthree of those five, so it's
good to see people that I'vebeen associated with
representing in this industrychallenge.
The industry challenge is aboutsmarter building for a
translational way of living, andthe entries can be seen at the

(05:59):
end of the year when we host theawards for it at our national
conference, which will be inaround about September, and it's
at the Gold Coast this yearjust to let people know exactly
where it might be heading.
Don't hold me to that 100%, butthat's where the talk is at the
moment inside Prefab Oz.
So get your looking glasses onwhen details come out and have a

(06:23):
look at these impressiveprojects from these students at
these competing universities,and we look forward to seeing
the outcomes of the project.
That's it.
That's all we've got time forfolks.
Good morning, good afternoon orgood evening.
Don't forget to hit subscribe,like comment, share anything on
our LinkedIn feed.
Don't forget to listen tospecial guest episodes and we'll
catch up with you next week.
Good morning, good afternoon orgood evening.

(06:46):
This is paul kramer signing offfrom the mastin construction,
so Bye.