Mass Timber Market Updates - May 2025 - Week Twenty

The sustainable building revolution is gathering unstoppable momentum as mass timber construction projects continue to emerge worldwide. This week's update brings you the cutting edge of timber innovation, showcasing how this remarkable material is transforming architecture and construction practices across continents.

Finland's Honka has unveiled their groundbreaking Fusion Plus CLT system—the culmination of 22 years of dedicated research. This non-settling solution enables ambitious ecological wood construction with enhanced environmental credentials and technical efficiency. Meanwhile, the prestigious RIBA Awards have recognized two outstanding mass timber projects: the magnificent Spencer Building at Worth School with its generous windows and beautiful timber interior, and the Greenhill building at Harrow Arts Centre, which has already transformed community engagement through thoughtful design.

Across the Atlantic, Yellowknife is breaking ground on a forward-thinking 50-unit public housing development that leverages mass timber for rapid assembly and incorporates biomass heating for maximum sustainability. Scotland's Mass Timber Centre for Excellence celebrates a decade of challenging misconceptions and developing UK-grown timber solutions that rival European imports. And in a significant milestone for American adoption, the University of Pennsylvania has completed Philadelphia's first mass timber building—a sleek new facility for their data science and AI programs. Each of these developments signals a broader shift toward sustainable construction methods that prioritize both environmental responsibility and design excellence.

Want to stay at the forefront of the mass timber revolution? Subscribe to our podcast, explore our academic journal, and join our community of forward-thinking building professionals who are reshaping the future of construction one timber project at a time.

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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 Paul Ramblin,your host.

(00:48):
Good morning, good afternoon orgood evening wherever you are
in the world today, welcome tothe Mass Timber Construction
Podcast, and it is lovely tohave you back on board again.
The CIB Conference, the WorldCongress of Building Research,
is happening at Pud PurdueUniversity in the US this week,
and I'll be presenting a coupleof papers which I'm very, very

(01:11):
pleased about.
So check that out.
And also don't forget tosubscribe, like, comment, share
or repost any of our content onLinkedIn or our social media.
And, of course, we have ouracademic journal, and the latest
article has been released justrecently, so check that out.
Let's have a look at what'smaking news around the world.
This week in Masatima,construction Land and Honka, a

(01:34):
pioneer in modern woodconstruction, launches a next
generation CLT called HonkaFusion Plus.
Honka launches this newnon-settling CLT log solution
that facilitates even moreambitious and ecological massive
wood constructions.
The new solid sectionconstruction streamlined design

(01:56):
of non-settling CLT logs has aneven more environmentally
friendly, natural looking andtechnically efficient than what
it has ever been before.
Honka Fusion Plus is aninnovative solution for modern
architecture.
If you'd like to read some morearound Honka Fusion Plus, you
can go to our LinkedIn feed andsee this 22-year development

(02:17):
project and you make your mindsup to see whether this is a
better solution.
And the Materials, minerals andMining for People, places and
Planet is a place to showcaseyour innovations and new
insights with fellowprofessionals from the materials
, minerals and mining area.
It's an inspiring series ofcase studies that align with the

(02:40):
M3P3 themes, and they want tohear from you and they want to
hear from you.
So if you're a student, earlycareer professional, ceo or
anyone in the world, gettogether, put an abstract in
before September 30 this yearand you can head to the M3P3
website to find out more.

(03:01):
And there are the RIBA Awardscurrently on at the moment, and
the Tim Rollins Architects haveproduced an amazing building the
Spencer Building at WorthSchool in West Sussex.
Tim Rowlands Architects has wonthis particular award, which
features 4.3 million pounds, andit is an impressive building.

(03:22):
It has a long front entrancewith a very ambitious and
generous window opening array onits front facade and inside it
is adorned by beautiful masstimber.
If you'd like to go and have alook at that particular project
and there was also another onethat won an award, which was a
simple CLT glulam structure forChris Dyson Architects, which

(03:43):
was very inspiring.
It looks like a farmhouse.
It is in the contract value ofabout 1.8 million pounds.
It is a social value culturalimpact project which is in the
Harrow Arts Centre.
The Greenhill building hasalready attracted more audiences
and groups in its new site thanever before.
Congratulations to both winnersusing mass timber as part of

(04:06):
their project entries.
Federal and territorial housingagencies will hold a ceremony in
the next week to mark theworking beginning of the new
50-public unit housing projectin downtown Yellowknife free
bachelor suites and 25two-bedroom units that were

(04:26):
built across from 50 Street,from Centre Square Mall, on a
vacant lot between the GoldRange and the Raven Housing NWT
and the Canadian Mortgage andHousing Corporation and the City
of Yellow Knife will hold agroundbreaking ceremony very,
very soon and those levels ofgovernment say that these

(04:47):
particular buildings ofsustainable design using mass
timber, construction for rapidassembly and biomass heating are
expected to be completed in thefall or autumn of 2026.
We have a schematic of thebuilding on our linkedin feed.
So if you'd like to have a lookat that project, do check in on
us, and there's a link to theoriginal article as well.

(05:09):
Big shout out to Sam Hart, whohas been featured in an article
which we've featured on ourLinkedIn feed.
After a decade of challengingmisconceptions around the
quality, safety and potential ofScottish timber, the Mass
Timber Centre for Excellence,part of the BEST group, has hit
a milestone journey for makingUK-grown mass timber a

(05:33):
mainstream high-valueconstruction solution.
Sam Hart, the AssociateDirector of MMC for the
manufacturing BEST, says that wechange things by changing
cultural misconceptions, andcertainly the question they've
been trying to answer over thelast 10 years of partners is how
can we make a UK grown timberthat is so strong as the

(05:57):
Europeans that we can thencreate a solution for a
sustainable future?
If you'd like to read the fullarticle and see Sam's lovely
face on the front page of ourLinkedIn feed, you can head to
you guessed it the Mass TimberConstruction Journal LinkedIn
feed.
You can head to you guessed itthe Mass Timber Construction
Journal LinkedIn feed.

(06:19):
And Mass Timber Construction isgradually taking hold on the
east coast of the US followingthe D2 group's completion of the
Timber Office building justoutside Philadelphia Lake.
Flatto, an award-winningpractice based in Texas, has
delivered the first such projectwithin the city limits of the
University of Pennsylvania.
The building is designed fromPenn Engineers' growing data
science artificial intelligenceprogram, delivering sleek new

(06:40):
classrooms Christened the AmyGuttenham Hall after the
university recently departedpresident.
The building is situated at thecorner of 34th and Chestnut
Street Street, directly adjacentthe campus of Penn's neighbor,
drexel University.
This particular site was cededby Penn in the 1960s during
Philadelphia's urban renewalefforts, but has remained

(07:04):
underutilized for decades.
And now this is an amazingproject to fill a void.
The concept drawings areincredible, the building looks
amazing.
Check it out for yourself.
And that's it, folks.
That's all we've got time forthis week.
In Massatimba Construction Land, that's what's making news
around the world.
Don't forget to check in, like,comment, share, subscribe to

(07:25):
anything on our platforms andthank you for tuning in each
week.
We really do appreciate it andwe look forward to catching up
with you in the very near future.
Good morning, good afternoon orgood evening.
My name is paul kramer, yourhost signing off from the mass
timber construction podcast.
Thank you.