Mass Timber’s Growing Appeal for Builders

Mass timber construction is on the rise. Once a specialty product found mostly in the multifamily sector, mass timber is now expanding its profile in the commercial sector. 

Efficiency also characterizes fabrication of the building’s components. “The connections are pre-engineered, pre-drilled and pre-designed so that when the material actually shows up on the site, there’s very little construction waste at all because all the pieces are coming together,” said Anthony Markese, a principal at Pickard Chilton, which has designed more than 4 million square feet of mass timber projects.

Among them is T3 RiNo, a six-story, 220,000-square-foot mass timber building located in Denver’s River North Art District. In 2025, Xcel Energy will relocate its regional headquarters to the property, which is being developed by a joint venture of Ivanhoé Cambridge, Hines and McCaffery.