Mass Timber Market Updates - October 2025 - Week Fourty

Headlines celebrate the big wins, but the real story of mass timber lives in the details: policy nudges that turn into buildings, design that solves for climate and community, and projects that grapple with the cost shocks of a volatile market. We walk through a week where funding unlocks four new demonstrations in British Columbia, a tall hybrid tower in Milwaukee hits pause under tariffs and inflation, and a bold academic centre in Arkansas shows how timber can be both structure and story.

We start with BC’s $2 million push across Vancouver, Surrey and Nelson, where family housing, below-market rentals, mixed-use offices and a rural climbing gym show the range of what wood can deliver. Then we turn to resilience in delivery: the 31-storey Neutral Project pauses to reassess budgets and timing, a candid reminder that even low-carbon materials must navigate procurement risks and capital constraints. Along the way, we spotlight the Anthony Timberlands Center from Grafton Architects and Modus Studio—CLT spanning to glulam gutter beams under a cascading roof that shades, channels rainwater to bioswales, and establishes a civic landmark for arts and design.

Finally, we head to Oregon, where Portland’s Terminal 2 shifts from marine shipping to a mass timber research and manufacturing campus. Soil stabilisation, phased timelines, and a funding gap don’t dampen the ambition: create a regional engine that can lower housing costs, speed delivery, and cut embodied carbon. From Atlassian’s timber beacon in Sydney to local manufacturing bets in the Pacific Northwest, the throughline is clear—mass timber isn’t a trend; it’s an operating system for a cleaner, faster, more human city.

If you’re curious about where wood meets policy, design, and industry, this episode is a concise briefing on what matters now and what’s next. Subscribe, share with a colleague who builds or designs, and leave a review with the project you think will move the needle most.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen, we are alive.
This is the moment you all havebeen a waiting on.

(00:49):
Good morning, good afternoon, orgood evening wherever you are in
the world today.
Welcome to the Mass TimberConstruction Podcast.
My name is Paul Cramer, yourhost, and thank you for joining
us again on another weeklyupdate of Mass Timber
Construction around the world.
It's great to have you on board.
Don't forget to hit subscribe,like, comment, share on any of
our social media platforms.
If you've got a journalmanuscript that you want to have

(01:10):
reviewed for researchinternationally, please put that
through to our InternationalMass Timber Construction
Journal.
We'd be very, very pleased toreview it.
Let's have a look at what'smaking news around the world
this week in Mass TimberConstruction Land.
First up, we're heading toBritish Columbia, who has
awarded$500,000 each to four newconstruction projects to

(01:31):
showcase the application of masstimber construction technology
with a total funding reaching$2million.
The selected developmentsinclude buildings in Vancouver,
Surrey and Nelson, and they formpart of the fourth intake of the
province's mass timberdemonstration program according
to the Forestry InnovationInvestment System or scheme.

(01:54):
The project will include a12-story extension on Ronald
McDonald House in BC and Yukonin Vancouver, named Willow
House, which will provide 75units for families visiting
Royal Children's Hospital.
The in Surrey, theIndigenous-led hybrid building,
will offer 78 below marketrental units accessing eight

(02:17):
stories of one particularbuilding.
And the Nexus building isanother building that will
feature six stories, includingfour floors of office space
along with daycare retailcomponents.
Nelson's Cube 2.0 is the fourthproject, is a three-story
building, Olympic level climbinggym focused on sustainability in
rural locations.

(02:38):
If you want to check out some ofthese impressive projects that
are going to be coming online inthe next few years, please go
and check out our LinkedIn feed.
And heading to Milwaukee now,and the neutral project, the
31-story tower in downtownMilwaukee, has hit a bit of a
pause with rising tariffs andinflation, which is driving

(02:59):
costs up, and it's halting workon the foundation and the steel
placement for the particularproject.
This is no surprise for anybodyin the construction industry
with ascending costs and delaysacross the whole sector.
This will be a pause, and welook forward to seeing the
350-unit 31-story tower atEdison Street take off again

(03:23):
once they've overcome thisdisruption.
But uh please rest assured, Ibelieve that they'll be able to
resolve these issues, and thereare discussions and talks
underway right now.
We will also give you an updatewhen we have more information at
hand.

(04:37):
I guess the Atlassian projectstands as a bit of a beacon to
attract technology to Australia.
So congratulations to MikeCannon, Brooks, and the team.
We look forward to seeing howyour new building evolves when
it comes to fruition at the endof 2027.
And to the US now, and Timbertakes the spotlight in the

(04:57):
Grafton Architects.
A first for the US projectraises the bar for mass timber
design with the AnthonyTimberland Center, the Pritzka
Prize winner, and Motus Studiosfusing cutting-edge research,
regional materials, andclimate-sensitive architecture
into a storybook of timber forArkansas and beyond.

(05:20):
The building's most strikingfeature is its cascade roof, and
it's composed of CLT spanningbetween monumental gulam gutter
beams and the roofscape providesthis opportunity for interior
shadowing and its shades fromthe intense summer sun,

(05:41):
channeling rainwater into acentral bio waste for the
landscape irrigation, and thenthe dramatic civic presence of
the art and design district thatare also included in this
breathtaking building.
It's 11,000 square feetfabrication and it holds anchors
to the complex, to thesurrounding classrooms, seminar
rooms, and designs, and thegalleries on the upper level.

(06:04):
This is an impressive building.
If you have not seen photos ofit, do go and jump onto Grafton
Architects website or go andhave a look at our LinkedIn
feed.
And to Oregon now and the marineterminal that once shipped
Oregon's wood and steel willsoon re become a research and
manufacturing of mass timber inan effort to ease Oregon's

(06:26):
housing costs and address thestate's housing shortage.
The city of Portland Terminal 2is a 39-acre concrete lot
sitting largely empty in thecity's Northwest Industrial
District and is beingreallocated in at least$15
million worth of soil treatmentsnext year to ensure the

(06:48):
riverfront site is on stableground before it transforms into
a mass timber research andmanufacturing campus.
While the campus first phase ofconstruction should be finished
in 2028, the Port of Portlandtold US Rep um on a visit
recently that millions offunding gaps uh will support the

(07:10):
campus in the next phase.
So$20 million to$25 millionfunding gap remains for the
campus, but we believe that theycan get some support for that.
It's going to be interesting tosee how the development of this
mass timber research and massmanufacturing campus evolves.
We will keep you updated as timeprogresses.

(07:31):
And so that's it, folks.
That's all we've got time forthis week in Mass Timber
Construction Land.
There's a lot happening aroundthe world.
I hope that you have an amazingweek and we will catch up with
you very, very soon.
Don't forget that theInternational Mass Timber
Conference is coming up nextyear.
Get your tickets booked forthat.
It will be uh the tenth year itis running.
Ten years is a long time, it's adecade, it's a great

(07:53):
celebration.
So get get along and seeeverybody at the networking
event.
And we look forward to catchingup with you in the near future.
So good morning, good afternoon,or good evening.
We're everywhere in the worldtoday.
This is Paul Kramer signing offon the Mass Timber Construction
Podcast.