WholeTrees July/August 2019 Update

Design

Pokagon Moon Pavilion: By using 3D scans displayed in AutoCAD, we can verify that structural components, like these curved branches, will correctly connect to their bases and other connections. Here, these curved members rest on concrete footings and connect to a supporting circular glulam beam.

Architect: Seven Generations A+E
GC: CSM Group
Engineer: Engineering Ventures

Hitchcock Nature Center: We travelled to Iowa to take 3D scans of trees on site and create renderings for a new nature center. Species included Burr Oak and Northern White Cedar.

Architect: Morton Buildings
Design: Wholetrees Structures

Houston Zoo: Collaboration is key to executing bold design visions. These designs for the new Houston Zoo Pantanal are fundamental tools we rely on to bring round timber to locations across the country. Color Rendering of Landscape Plan, Design Concept/Elevation of Howler Exhibit, and Color Rendering of Landscape Plan by Brave Architecture and Studio Hansen Roberts.

Architect: Studio Hanson Roberts & Brave Architecture 
Engineer: Engineering Ventures
EOR: MLA Engineering
GC: Tellepsen

Lakeridge Middle School: Technology enables biophilic design, demonstrated here by 3D plan views of site sourced trees scanned, rendered, and now being manufactured into columns for Lakeridge Middle School. The technology allows architects to see the exact rotation of the tree columns in relation to the glulam beams they will support. 3D plans by Mahlum.

 

Architect: Mahlum Architects
GC: Skanska 
Engineer: KPFF

Production

Pokagon Sun Shade: Glimpse craftsmanship-in-process as we put these finishing touches on columns for the Pokagon Sun Shade. Final sanding and processing made these ready for shipment to Dowagiac, Michigan. These columns have been cored for round pipe base connections and will support a 70-foot-long curved glulam beam.

Pokagon Entryway: 

Architect: Seven Generations A+E
GC: 
CSM Group
Engineer:
Engineering Ventures

Houston Zoo: It starts with trees. Harvest crews removed thousands of linear feet of invasive black locust from forests supervised by the Department of Natural Resources near Lone Rock, Wisconsin. That black locust has now had the bark removed and is in the fabrication process to be cut to length for trellises for the Houston Zoo.  Once all inventory has been collected, sorted and cut, we will start fabrication on joints and connections.

Architect: Studio Hanson Roberts & Brave Architecture 
Engineer: 
Engineering Ventures
EOR: 
MLA Engineering
GC: Tellepsen

Pokagon Moon Pavilion: Curved oak trees have been sourced and preparations are underway for fabrication of pieces for the Pokagon Moon Pavilion.  Curves must meet exacting specifications related to length, sweep, and grade. Eight prime white oak specimens have been selected for this project.

Architect: Seven Generations A+E
GC: 
CSM Group
Engineer: 
Engineering Ventures

Twin Buttes Community Center: 10' column wraps for the Twin Buttes Community Center will be sent to North Dakota for installation in mid-September. All column wraps are white oak and have been cut to seamlessly fit around a structural steel column, creating a beautiful and biophilic result.  

Architect: Jiran Architects & Planners, P.C.
GC: 
Woodstone Inc.

Installation

Pokagon Justice and Peacemaking Center Entryway: This canopy creates a welcoming entrance to the new tribal court and justice center. Native justice is focused on healing the community as a whole and these natural timbers help to connect people to the environment and cultural traditions.

Architect: Seven Generations A+E 
GC: CSM Group
Engineer: Engineering Ventures

Pokagon Justice and Peacemaking Center Entryway: This canopy creates a welcoming entrance to the new tribal court  and justice center. Native justice is focused on healing the community as a whole and these natural timbers help to connect people to the environment and cultural traditions.

Architect: Seven Generations A+E 
GC: CSM Group
Engineer: Engineering Ventures

Philadelphia Zoo: The Gorilla Treehouse came together beautifully. At 20' high, this structure made from sustainably sourced white oak, black locust, and cedar.

Design: WholeTrees Structures
GC: WholeTrees Structures
Engineer: Engineering Ventures

Morton Truss: 

Architect: Morton Buildings

Blakely Elementary: As we approach the new school year and the grand opening of the new Blakely Elementary, these columns are getting a little TLC to make sure they are ready to inspire hundreds of children.

Architect: Mithun
Engineer: Lund Opsahl
GC: Forma

Finished Products

Philadelphia Zoo: The Gorilla Treehouse is now open and ready for adventure. The new atmosphere is enriching the days of some of the Zoo’s most popular residents by offering additional exercise and daily fun. Guests can watch adorable toddlers Amani and Ajabu, large males Motuba, Louis, and Kuchimba, and moms Honi and Kira climb, swing, stroll and chill in this exciting new environment. We couldn't be happier.

Design: WholeTrees Structures
GC: WholeTrees Structures
Engineer: Engineering Ventures

R + D

WholeTrees meets VR: WholeTrees CEO, Amelia Baxter, and Madison Director, Kyle Teal, experienced our WholeTrees BIM objects in VR for the first time! You can almost run your hands over the undulating knobs and nubs of the 3D scanned tree columns. The "bowstring" trusses shown here were engineered by KPFF Seattle using structural round timber and steel tensions rods.

Thank you Strang Architects for sharing your cutting-edge VR technology with our team and for letting us explore your Revit models.

@autodesk @autodeskrevit @woodworksusa
#kpffseattle #virtual reality #woodencity #masstimber #kpff #structuralengineering #strang

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WholeTrees 3D Printing: Wisconsin's own Trek Bicycles hosted WholeTrees in its advanced 3D printing lab as we print 3D scanned trees, in part for a video we are creating with Autodesk. When an undulating, organic form like a tree is digitalized via scanner, it becomes an accessible material for design and engineering and creates a whole new level of joy.

Trek: Ride Bikes. Have Fun. Feel Good. Here at WholeTrees, we are aligned! Thanks for opening your doors to our innovation.

Testing Core Samples: WholeTrees lead scientist Tom Groman tests core samples from trees for Lakeridge Middle School. Core sample testing is one of many data collection tools to established structural values for each piece.

Travel

Hitchcock Nature Center: WholeTrees visited Honey Creek, Iowa to scan cull trees for re-use in a Nature Pavilion coming to the Hitchcock Nature Center in 2020.  A 2-day trip to Pottawattamie County and Loess Hills State Forest included 3D scanning and tagging of each tree to be used.  We are excited to be a part of this innovative process and cannot wait to see the end results.

Architect: Morton Buildings
Design: WholeTrees Structures

Undisclosed Technology Company: A technology company in Mountain View, California has engaged WholeTrees to pilot our beta inventory and sales platform with trees scheduled for removal from its managed campus forests.  WholeTrees will then offer 3D models and preliminary design values for use nation-wide.  More to come on this exciting partnership.

WholeTrees at Studio Gang: WholeTrees admires few firms more than Studio Gang, a woman-owned and led "rock star" firm internationally renowned for intuitive and creative design heavily focused on materials. Our CEO, Amelia Baxter, visited their Chicago office to discuss using trees in upcoming projects and the logistics of sourcing structural material from job sites. Studio Gangs' hip Wicker Park office is a renovated Art Deco building built by the Polish National Alliance. Studio Gang has named every meeting room after a different tree species. We love it.

WholeTrees at Autodesk in San Francisco: WholeTrees CEO, Amelia Baxter, met with Autodesk representatives in San Francisco to discuss a growing partnership. Autodesk will tell the story of how WholeTrees is making use of Autodesk's use of technology in our 2019 projects, the ways 3D scanning enables the use of new materials, the sustainable processes supported by Autodesk software, and the potential changes in workforce skill sets and demographics that may occur as technology in enables high tech rural jobs. 

Badger Startup Summit for the Wisconsin Forward Fest: WholeTrees CEO, Amelia Baxter, will be presented at the Wisconsin Badger Startup Summit, sharing her experience of leading a successful start-up navigating its burgeoning growth phase.  We may be all about trees here at but we have a lot of Wisconsin badger in us as well, and we are pleased to open up and share a bit of our journey with the state's innovation community.

Current Events in the Wood World and WholeTrees in the News

Forest to Tap
Forterra Weekly
Autodesk Near Future Summit
Forterra Weekly: Three big, interrelated factors need to be front and center as we decide how to use our land — and when to leave it be.  1) Preserve the Sacred; 2) Conserve the needed; 3) Make the very best of the rest. Once we have protected our sacred natural places and needed working landscapes, the rest should be for our cities and towns. Here it’s all about making great communities, and it “ain’t rocket science.” Plainly speaking, there are six ingredients for quality communities:

• A range of housing options in all neighborhoods.
• Access to family wage jobs close to home.
• Great schools and educational opportunities.
• Safety and security in our neighborhoods.
• A variety of public-transportation choices.
• Museums, parks and civic places in a great regional setting.