Offsite Construction and the Rise of Mercer Mass Timber

Audree Grubesic published this post on Aug. 13, 2024. It was updated Mar. 10. Mercer Mass Timber operates three factories in British Columbia, Arkansas, and Washington.

Mercer Mass Timber

Mercer Mass Timber produces low-carbon, fire-resistant, and acoustically superior building materials. The company focuses on offsite construction, engineering, and virtual modeling.

Featured Experts

Ricardo Brites: Director of Engineering and VDC at Mercer Mass Timber. He is a structural engineer with a Ph.D. in timber and 15 years of experience in timber engineering across Europe and North America.
Nick Milestone: Vice President of Projects and Construction at Mercer Mass Timber. He has nearly four decades of experience in construction and construction manufacturing. He began in structural steel and moved into mass timber around 2006.

Mass Timber Background

Mass timber is not new. Glulam gained prominence in the 1950s. CLT, or cross-laminated timber, emerged in the early 2000s and added a structural panel option for floors and walls.

Engineering and Design

Mercer Mass Timber emphasizes pre-engineering and pre-design. The team models buildings virtually before construction to improve precision, reduce on-site adjustments, and lower waste.

Case Study: Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

One project highlighted in the post is the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota. It includes a curved roof made of Glulam and CLT components on a steel frame. Mercer worked with the contractor and installer to support detailed planning and virtual modeling.

Sustainability Certifications

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
Programmed for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)

Key Themes

Factory-based delivery supports precision and repeatability.
Offsite methods can reduce waste and on-site disruption.
Mass timber is positioned as a sustainable, high-performance building material.