Western City Campus
Advancing Regional Forest Resilience Through Localized Mass Timber Engineering
The City of Boulder’s Western City Campus in Boulder, Colorado, sets a new benchmark as the first civic mass timber development in the state to source a significant volume of its structural wood locally. Designed by ZGF Architects with Keegan Raleigh, the four-story, 63,000-square-foot Type III-A civic and recreational facility models how public infrastructure can actively strengthen regional supply chains. By establishing an intentional timber sourcing strategy, the project team partnered directly with local sawmills to harvest Colorado wood fiber, proving that municipal building investments can stimulate state forest product economies while delivering a high-performance, low-carbon civic hub.
Regional Fiber Sourcing and Custom Layup Innovation
To maximize economic and environmental impact within Colorado, approximately 50% of the Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) utilized across the superstructure originates directly from regional sawmills. In collaboration with Sustainable Northwest, SmartLam North America, and Timberlab, the project team engineered a custom mass timber panel layup tailored specifically to the structural characteristics of Colorado’s regionally harvested fiber. This localized material pipeline supports active forest management, bolsters domestic wood manufacturing, and creates an exposed biophilic environment throughout the recreational and community spaces, showcasing native timber directly within civic architecture.
Project Highlights
Pioneering Colorado Civic Timber: Serves as the first civic mass timber project in Colorado to source a major portion of its structural wood within the state.
50% Local Fiber Integration: Directly sources regional lumber from Colorado sawmills, stimulating local forest economies and advancing domestic mass timber manufacturing.
Custom Regional Layup Development: SmartLam collaborated with project partners to manufacture and qualify an engineered CLT panel layup calibrated to regional fiber properties.
Integrated Supply Chain Collaboration: Timberlab provided Design Assist and glulam manufacturing/fabrication, working alongside SmartLam’s CLT manufacturing line to deliver a synchronized timber superstructure package.
Engineered for Assembly: Pre-engineered Simpson Strong-Tie connectors and fasteners streamlined field connections, ensuring rapid, precise erection on-site.
Technical Execution
Delivered under the general contracting leadership of Saunders Construction, the project’s structural delivery required close coordination between Engineer of Record Anthem Structural Engineers, timber engineering/builder KL&A Engineers and Builders, structural engineer Casey Casias, and installer LPR Construction. SmartLam precision-manufactured the custom CLT panels, coordinating closely with Timberlab’s glulam fabrication to guarantee exact tolerance alignment across the four-story structural frame. Utilizing pre-engineered Simpson Strong-Tie connection systems, LPR Construction executed a clean, efficient erection sequence that minimized site disruption. The Western City Campus establishes a repeatable blueprint for public entities seeking to link municipal infrastructure investments directly to local forest restoration and regional manufacturing growth.