First mass timber commercial office building in DC opens doors

Abstract

The office building at 80 M Street SE in Washington, D.C., might not stand out if you walked past it. A recent addition to the structure's top three floors makes the Capitol Riverfront property the district's very first mass timber commercial office building. Known as an overbuild, or extra stories on top of an existing building, the expansion features three floors, where columns of mass timber are visible from the interior. One of the overbuilt floors on 80 M. Permission granted by Matthew Thibault The commercial building sets itself apart from other East Coast mass timber projects, said Lauren Wingo, the project manager and senior structural engineer for Arup. "A lot of times with these mass timber projects, you'll see them at universities, or even commercial real estate developers who have ground-up construction, and they want a timber building, and they go in with that mindset," Wingo told Construction Dive. Wingo said the team worked with district building officials to make sure the building met standards. A green idea Part of the draw of mass timber is its low carbon footprint compared to other, more traditional building materials.