Swinerton JV Breaks Ground on North Carolina Mass-Timber Office Project

Upcoming office building at the Live Oak Bank campus. Rendering courtesy of LS3P

A joint venture between Swinerton and Monteith Construction has broken ground on a 67,000-square-foot mass-timber building at Live Oak Bank’s office campus in Wilmington, N.C.

LS3P Associates designed the project to attain LEED Silver certification. Timberlab, Swinerton’s sister company, will be responsible for producing both the glue-laminated timber and cross-laminated timber fabrications. Delivery is expected by early 2024.

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Upon completion, the four-story building will be the fourth component of the bank’s corporate campus that currently totals 154,877 square feet and the only one constructed entirely out of mass timber. The development is in line with Live Oak Bank’s dedication to promoting energy efficiency, structural durability and sustainability.

Monteith also supervised the construction of Live Oak Bank’s 30,709-square-foot FitPark, a hybrid building incorporating mass timber, steel, concrete and glass. To date, Swinerton has successfully completed more than 20 mass timber projects and is currently in the process of constructing an additional 10.

The rise of mass-timber construction

Jared Hoeflich, division manager & vice president at Swinerton, explained in a prepared statement that the utilization of mass timber in construction has become increasingly popular in the past decade for several reasons. Timber is lighter than steel and concrete, thus requiring less foundation, which translates into reduced costs and a faster construction timeline.

As a renewable resource, wood is more sustainable and has a smaller carbon footprint than other traditional construction materials. Additionally, biophilic design fosters a stronger connection to the natural environment from both physiological and psychological perspectives, which promotes employee attraction and retention.

In the beginning of the month, Jamestown Properties broke ground on a 110,000-square-foot project in Atlanta that is constructed using mass timber. Upon completion, the building will include 85,000 square feet of office space and 25,000 square feet of retail space.

Last year, Crow Holdings Development also announced the construction of North Texas’ first mass-timber office building. Completion is scheduled for the third quarter of 2023.