A 5-story, 122,000 office and retail building, set to be one of the largest Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) buildings in Los Angeles, is taking shape. For 843 N Spring Street, this month continues the installation of what will be 82,000 square feet of CLT panels in the hybrid timber structure designed by LEVER Architecture, developed by Redcar LTD, and built by Shawmut Design and Construction. Its tiered vertical garden courtyard was designed by landscape architecture firm James Corner Field Operations.
843 N Spring Street is described as an “environmentally forward-thinking new office prototype.” The building combines office spaces and the outdoors through open-air circulation spaces, a rooftop deck, and balconies. Integrating a former two-story indoor market, it features a rooftop PV array, over 200 bike stalls and EV charging stations, and biophilic materials. The site’s landscaping is irrigated by a 15,000 gallon cistern that captures onsite rain water. According to a press release, preliminary calculations indicate an estimated reduction of 1,357 metric tons of carbon compared to traditional building methods.
“Inspired by California’s iconic landscapes, the open spaces at 843 N Spring Street will create a connection to big nature in the city. The central vertical garden is envisioned as a ‘fern canyon’ with cascading green walls and reclaimed timber slabs set within a pebble floor. The rooftop meadow features drought-tolerant native planting and a spectacular view of DTLA,” said Sarah Weidner Astheimer, Principal at James Corner Field Operations. “The gardens at 843 N Spring Street function as connective tissue between indoor work environments, repositioning the value of nature in our daily lives— something that is essential for our collective health and well-being.”
843 N Spring Street was specifically designed to push the boundaries of mass timber design at scale. It is one of the first major CLT office buildings in Los Angeles. The building comprises a hybrid structural system that combines 5-ply and 3-ply CLT panels and a concrete topping slab, with exposed steel columns and beams that account for the building’s gravity and seismic loads. Exposed timber panels cantilever over the balconies, adding a natural, warm aesthetic to the interior.
“Working with Redcar Properties and James Corner Field Operations, we set out to create a new type of office experience that connects contemporary modes of working to Los Angeles’ incredible climate,” said LEVER Architecture Founding Principal Thomas Robinson. “For the first time, landscape and large scale mass timber construction unite to bring Los Angeles a unique, transit-oriented workspace. 843 N Spring Street’s sustainable design provides a new type of space where creative work can flourish.”
4 Comments
... but the super structure is steel and there is a concrete topping slab on this "CLT" building? this seems weird
The article does indicate that it is a hybrid CLT. Does LA building codes allow full CLT buildings?
Hybrid CLT is probably where CLT makes the most sense, at least based on current codes, construction, and markets. If you're only concerned with lowering embodied carbon, then it's probably CLT for everything.
I don't know all the details but it seems like a lot of the US codes are written in a way that the more CLT you want to use the more you have to cover it up with gypsum board, and the less you get to show it off for the pretty pictures. Hybrid structures with CLT for floor panels and a topping slab is probably the best option you have for showing off the most CLT with exposed ceilings ... biggest bang for your buck.
I'm doing a 130,000sf full CLT building.... but it's not LA so it doesn't count.
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