New York City Gets Its First Completed Mass Timber Structure

Much of the rest of the country has been into mass timber for years but now the nation’s largest city is in the game too.

It took the 2022 New York City Building Code to formally recognize CLT (cross-laminated timber) as a permitted building material but now a five-story apartment building in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn is complete and the city has its first mass timber structure.

Built on the site of what was once a single-story parking garage, Frame 122 was designed by Brent Buck Architects and developed by Frame House, for what would be its first mass timber project as well. “A lot of people are really risk-averse, and so you’ve got to find those special clients that want to create something a little bit different,” Buck said in a recent interview.

The developers, Fred and Joanne Wilson, wanted a mass timber building, he said, and it needed to have a courtyard. “It was really refreshing to hear that they were interested in massings that you typically wouldn’t see in a mid-block rental project in Brooklyn.”

The completed structure houses 15 units in a mix of two- and three-bedroom layouts suited for young families — plus additional amenities like a gym and bike storage, according to a report in Azure magazine. “The apartment’s street-facing façade nods to its industrial context, with its first level clad in brick (the same material as the former parking garage) and the upper floors sheathed in corrugated aluminum siding. Residents enter the complex via oversized wooden doors, punctuated with small circular apertures.” The central courtyard acts as a lobby and focal point for the building.

The magazine reported that inside, “the mass timber structure has been left exposed, a move that limits material usage — and lends the interiors a wonderful sense of warmth.” Frame 122 also adds to its sustainability story with triple-pane windows, high-performance insulation to maintain indoor comfort and the use of  solar arrays as a primary power source.

For New York City, a return to wooden structures takes it full circle back to the era before masonry and steel replaced wood as the primary material used in new building construction. No doubt mass timber will continue in the minority of new building materials, but it’s clear wood construction is back in the mix in the city.

Image: Frame122

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