Design
East Maine Learning Center: Architects used WholeTrees 3d scanned inventory, imported from our beta platform, to show the precise tree that they would like to use in the space. This type of visual design and selection process allows our clients to search our inventory, select exactly the tree they would like and import it into Revit drawings of the finished space. We're so excited to grow this inventory and share with clients for future projects. Look for this project's completion in Spring of 2020.
Architect: DLA Architects
GC: Hargrave Builders
Tigar Lair: Whole Trees teams with Damon Farber once again, to create a special Tiger Viewing Canopy, made from branching White Oak columns and aesthetic steel connections.
Design: Damon Farber & WholeTrees
GC: Minnesota Zoo
Engineer: Engineering Ventrues
Twin Buttes Community Center: Biophilic design takes center stage with these large white oak columns in the grand entrance of this community center in North Dakota. Simplicity and elegance at it's finest.
GC: Woodstone, Inc
National Gateway: From drafting board to digital BIM objects, WholeTrees partners with architects nationwide to bring the tree's innate gesture and dancing form to construction.
Architect: Landworks-Studio
GC: Paradigm Contractors
Production
La Crosse Eagle Viewing Tree: A 40' white oak was located by one of our sustainable harvesting foresters on his property in Spring Green, WI. The tree was evaluated for character and selected by a city committee as the perfect perch for a bronzed eagle statue to welcome visitors to La Crosse via the city's lone interstate entrance from I-90 to Hwy 53. The tree was set by our install crews 8' into the ground on the edge of the Black River at La Crosse's recent Eagle Viewing Park addition. It is an area where visitors can watch bald eagles congregate and fish; one of the top bald eagle viewing areas in the midwest. The bronzed eagle statue was built by Fast Corporation in Sparta and mounted on the tree by our crews in early December, shortly after the tree itself was put into place.
Architect:
GC: WholeTrees
Engineer: SCL Consulting
Houston Zoo: Fabrication and processing of Houston Zoo inventory has consumed much of the shop time over the last few weeks with Muscoda crews and Westby crews working side by side in getting first trellis buildings ready for installation in Houston. In terms of linear feet of wood, this is one of the largest projects undertaken by WholeTrees. We are at approximately 6,000 LF and counting. Installation for the first structures was to begin on 10/28 but a trip to Houston by a crew ended once it was determined the GC was not ready for the installation. Another installation trip is tentatively scheduled for 11/18 but that may change depending on progress on site. Additional installation trips for trellis buildings are also beginning to be scheduled for mid-December. WholeTrees will partner with American Pole and Timber in Houston for storage and handling during the upcoming 2-4 installation trips. The vast majority of product getting installed by WholeTrees is black locust removed from land near Lone Rock, Wisconsin in conjunction with Wisconsin DNR habitat restoration efforts there.
Architect: Studio Hanson Roberts & Brave Architecture
Engineer: Engineering Ventures
EOR: MLA Engineering
GC: Tellepsen
Installation
La Crosse Riverside Park Bandshell: Much of the focus of Westby for October and November has been on an in-field fabrication along with an installation effort on the banks of the Mississippi at La Crosse. There, a WholeTrees crew is finishing the structural timber construction for the Riverside Bandshell for which local Rotary clubs have spent the last several years fundraising. This high profile project incorporates massive oak columns and beams as well as 45’ red pine rafters which will form the base structure for the roof that will be added in the spring. WholeTrees crews are braving extremely cold and snowy conditions in order to complete structural work in time for the opening of the world famous Rotary Lights display in Riverside Park.
Architect: Roald Gundersen Design
Engineer: SCL Consulting Engineers
Twin Buttes Community Center: Column wraps were installed as one of the final pieces of the Twin Buttes Community Center for the MHA nation in Halliday, North Dakota in early December. The column facades are constructed from sustainably harvested white oak from south central Wisconsin.
GC: Woodstone, Inc
La Crosse Eagle Viewing Tree: In December, crews installed tree and eagle sculpture on the banks of the Black River at La Crosse’s Eagle Viewing park on state highway 53. The sculpture welcomes those coming to La Crosse on the river city’s only interstate entrance.
Architect:
GC: WholeTrees
Engineer: SCL Consulting
Finish Shots
Blackhawk Church: A single decorative tree inside the Blackhawk church will be situated in the middle of a bench seating area.
Design: Interior Logic
GC: Newcomb Construction
Georgetown Township Library: For these dynamic branching interior columns for Georgetown Township Public Library in Jenison, Michigan, we we provided beautiful white oak branching trees that inspire awe and delight in the children's area.
Architect: Progressive AE
GC: Lakewood Construction
Pokagon Peacemaking Center: Naturally bent white oaks bring beauty and nature to this gathering space outside the new Tribal Peacemaking Center for the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi.
Architect: Seven Generations A+E
GC: CSM Group
Engineer: Engineering Ventures
Travel
Seven Islands: Still reeling from a top shelf tour with Seven Islands Land Company. From Bangor to Ashland and into “The County”, I saw a Maine I’ve never seen before, including the nation’s first ever FSC certified forest! (I’m star-struck). The Seven Islands team oversees persistent and sustained prosperity with their forests, from the woodland managers to the sawmill blade sharpeners, from log graders to the chip mill. Can’t wait to get back to those beautifully managed mixed hardwood forests, hopefully with our 3D scanner in tow!
GreenBuild: Another #greenbuild under our belt. What an inspiration! Shown here, laser scanned and then 3D printed trees from our web platform, structurally secured by Playdough. We enjoyed the steady flow of old friends and new colleagues we met on the expo floor. Specifically, but not limited.
Trees and Bikes - the perfect pairing: Our CEO took a day to meet the Sandy Ridge Trail System during a recent trip to Portland, OR and Port Blakely. Even the post-ride beers included trees and bike (shoes).
Port Blakely - Portland: Profoundly moved this week by the Port Blakely “Carbon Forest”, a 10,000 acre Doug Fir stand in Washington managed for long-rotation harvests, optimizing the carbon sequestration of this forest by 25 years’ extra growth. Mike Warjone introduced our CEO to the differences in a 60 year old forest—differences in economy, ecology, aesthetics, rural culture, and public perception.
Whole and Hewn Timber: the Original Mass Timber!
Current Events in the Wood World and WholeTrees in the News
Climate Activists Maneuver To Reduce Embodied Carbon in Buildings: This is a comprehensive article that introduces EC to the green construction lexicon. EC (Embodied Carbon) + OC (Operational Carbon) = the Carbon Footprint of a Building. Kudos to radical building professionals everywhere.