Design
Oregon Zoo Black Bear Exhibit: Concept renderings renderings for a new habitat for the black bears of the Oregon Zoo. Black bears can be antisocial, so there are various structures for them to live and shelter from the lovely Portland, OR weather.
Orlando Science Center Sloth Climbers: In the other corner of the US, the team at Roto have designed a sloth exhibit for the Orlando Science Center. Pictured here are the tree scans and detail drawing of the upcoming enclosure for the sloths and their visitors.
Park 596, Chicago Parks Department Headquarters: WholeTrees is working hard to supply the Chicago Parks Department with natural play elements from our catalog to bring a variety of elements to the young and young at heart in Chicago.
Production
Bridgeport Village: Fabricators at American Pole and Timber work diligently to get nature play elements completed, shown here are a climbing tower and log tunnel in progress.
GC:
Engineer:
Finished Shots
Chambers & Highland Park: WholeTrees worked with the trailbuilding group, Avid Trails, to fabricate and furnish a series of natural play structures for all ages.
Designer: Avid Trails
Living Desert Zoo & Gardens: WholeTrees applaud the zoo’s leadership for walking the talk, choosing a regenerative structural system for their Crossroads of Conservation exhibit expansion. Doug Fir from our forestry partners, Port Blakely, are showcased in a stunning structures shown here.
Architect: GLMV Architecture
GC: D.W. Johnston Construction
Engineer: KPFF Seattle
Travel
WholeTrees visits Children's Museum of Eau Claire: Early this summer, a few of the Madison and Westby team members made a day trip to Eau Claire to see the structure before the roof and second floor concrete were poured. A unique opportunity for our team to see the trees in their full glory as structural round timber.
Amelia visits Katahdin Cedar Log Homes: During a summer strategy session in Maine, Amelia had an opportunity to visit Katahdin's fabrication facility as we tour and vet potential partnerships for Original Mass Timber Maine.
Amelia plays in Chambers & Highland Park: Amelia also made a quick trip to American Pole and Timber for a meeting, and during the down time took a playful stroll through the Avid Trails play elements in the Park.
Madison Field Trip to Quarra Custom Stone: WholeTrees often consults other industries to learn about how to do things that have never been done before. The Madison team took a tour of the Quarra facilities with their massive robots and shop filled with custom CNC machines to fabricate some of the most intricate carvings and pieces of art we've ever seen.
WholeTrees Annual Board Retreat: WholeTrees is supported by an incredible team of great thinkers that convene annually to think strategically about how to make WholeTrees the most successful organization we can. This summer meeting was held in Stevenson, WA at the Skamania Lodge, under the shade of the WholeTrees built Riverside Pavilion. Amelia, Karen and Chelsea all went for bike rides across the Colombia River on the Bridge of the Gods for a meal in Oregon for a different view of the scenery.
Erik from KPFF also visits Skamania Lodge: Turns out, Erik made a trip to see the riverside pavilion this summer too! We love seeing our structures in person and celebrate Erik for doing the same.
Amelia visit Neal Creek Sort Yard: When in Oregon, Amelia also had the chance to tour Neal Creek's sort yard in Mount Hood, OR. Incredible views.
Amelia presents to Western Wood Structures: During this same productive trip to the Pacific Northwest, Amelia also gave a presentation to the team at Western Wood Structures.
Current Events in the Wood World and WholeTrees in the News
Welcome New Team Members: Welcome to the team, Melissa Rodriguez! Melissa is a registered architect in the state of Wisconsin and is joining the WholeTrees team as an Architectural Project Manager.
Melissa grew up building things, as she repeatedly watched her father turn a pile of scrap wood into whatever he could dream up. She inherited his creativity and love of woodworking and spent the first decade of her career down on the Gulf Coast working as a custom cabinet maker and high-end interior finish carpenter. With a desire to be more, she applied to the Louisiana State University School of Architecture which led her down the path to becoming a licensed architect.
Melissa began her career in architecture in 2016 working at a local firm specializing in multi-family, hospitality, and mixed-use projects. She views her transition to WholeTrees as the beautiful culmination of her experience and the crazy twist of fate that brought her right back to her first love…working with wood.
Melissa lives in Middleton Wisconsin with her wife, Sarah and 16 year old daughter, Mia.
Chelsea gives a tour at Children's Museum of Eau Claire: During a capital raise tour for local businesses, Chelsea was able to capture images of a mother bird and her 2 chicks roosted in one of the 30' maple trees
Architectural Record Article- Mass Timber: A New Chapter in Sustainability: This article features Jacob Dunn of ZGF discussing the new Portland Airport Mass Timber roof, in production in the Port of Portland, right next to the airport. It will be a striking example of the power and versatility of wood products in the built environment.
WholeTrees and Original Mass Timber Maine have published EPD's for Structural Round Timber: After many months of work and third party verifications, WholeTrees and Original Mass Timber Maine have published EPD values. To those looking for lifecycle analysis information for their projects, the data is striking. Structural Round Timber is a powerful tool for sequestering carbon and allowing designers and builders to Do More.
The World's Tallest High Rise Mass Timber Building opens in Wisconsin: The long anticipated opening of Ascent, the world's tallest mass timber structure, occurred this summer. The structure officially beats the previous record holder in Norway. Residents have already begun to occupy the building here in WholeTrees' backyard. The future for using trees sustainably in building is certainly tall and bright.
New Yorker Article Turning Trees into Skyscapers: More information about the trends in tall mass timber construction. As Mass Timber markets grow, WholeTrees is proud to supply alternative materials to a traditional industry looking forward to innovation.