Mass Timber Specialists
KL&A is the premier structural designer of mass timber in the Rocky Mountain Region. Having led the adoption and use of this material and construction type locally, regionally and beyond, our experience is unmatched.
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We are your trusted advisors to make your mass timber project effective, appropriate, economical, and beautiful.
Trusted Advisors
Why Mass Timber?
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Mass timber is a sustainable building material with a low embodied carbon footprint. It requires less water and energy to produce than concrete or steel. It is quiet and quick to construct with less waste on site.
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Mass timber is seismically resilient and has been shown to perform well when subjected to blast loads, earthquakes and high winds.
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Mass timber is prefabricated, lending itself to a faster build time.
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Mass timber is also beautiful!
Benefits of KL&A's Team Mass Timber
Starting with our very first project, heavy timber has been a part of KL&A's DNA. We have since completed the structural design on numerous heave timber and mass timber projects, including the first Cross Laminated Timber building in Colorado. Working with SEAC, KL&A led the way to making Denver an early adopter of the Tall Wood Provisions of the 2021 IBC, and the first to adopt the 2024 IBC provisions that allow full exposure of timber in Type IV-B buildings. Our design process embraces the complexities of this new building type, balancing the demands of structural performance, fire resistance rating , acoustics, vibration, constructability and aesthetics.
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KL&A's Team Mass Timber truly cares about the outcome of these mass timber projects, serving as Engineer of Record, Delegated Design, or as a resource to clients to steer their projects towards being built - even if we're not involved on the project.
Mass Timber & KL&A's Team Carbon
KL&A has two sustainability-driven special teams: Team Carbon and Team Mass Timber. Team Carbon will provide the roadmap to reduce, quantify, and strategize for embodied carbon reduction. When that solution includes a mass timbe component, Team Mass Timber will step in to ensure that the design is efficient and effective.
Research, Development & Education
It is KL&A’s position that involvement on the front edge of research and development keeps technical skills sharp and an innovative spirit strong. Team Mass Timber is currently engaged with multiple research and development activities, and is actively engaged in spreading mass timber education to the broader design, construction, and academic communities. We are a certified AIA provider and can provide dozens of AIA accredited presentations directly to your organization, university, conference or symposium.
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To schedule an AIA accredited presentation in your office, contact us at kclark@klaa.com.
KL&A is a proud member of the Woodworks Innovation Network, comprised of design and construction professionals who have worked with innovative wood technologies such as mass timber. KL&A were the authors of a Mass Timber Connections Index for WoodWorks, a compilation of connections used in mass timber construction. The also were the authors of a companion piece: Mass Timber Connection Index: Optimal Connection Considerations.
Both of these works can be found here:
WoodWorks Index of Mass Timber Connections
Mass Timber Connections Index: Optimal Connection Considerations
KL&A'S Mass Timber Timeline
Lake Flato, PCL Construction
Denver's First Mass
Timber Shear Walls
2020
Shigeru Ban Architecture, Turner Construction
uNPRECEDENTED 3d tIMBER sPACE fRAME
2014
2019
KL&A brings Tall Wood to Denver
In 2019, KL&A, working with the Structural Engineers Association of Colorado, spearheaded the early adoption of the 2021 IBC Tall Wood provisions, the first jurisdiction outside the Pacific Northwest to do so. This means that Denver is among the first cities in the nation that can build code-compliant wood buildings as tall as 18 stories. See Appendix U in the Denver Amendments.
