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The Globeville Mixed-Use Development in Denver represents a convergence of community need, environmental equity, and structural innovation. The 250,000 sq. ft. building delivers 170 affordable units, a Denver Public Library branch, community café, and 50,000 sq. ft. of green space in a neighborhood long shaped by industrial legacy and environmental inequity. Structural engineer KL&A, mass timber supplier Element5, architect EJ Architecture, owner Evergreen Real Estate, and builder Milender White will share how the team navigated a rigorous systems comparison, including panelized trusses and I-joist framing, before landing on 5-ply CLT over prefabricated panelized stud walls as the optimal solution. The five-story Type IIIB mass timber superstructure sits above a Type IA concrete podium that anchors the library, residential lobby, and grade-level townhome entries, a hybrid strategy that resolved fire and occupancy requirements while keeping the residential floors light, fast, and low-carbon.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to make the mass timber vs. conventional framing case. The team's side-by-side comparison of panelized trusses, I-joist systems, and CLT provides a replicable framework for evaluating structural systems on affordable housing projects where cost and schedule are non-negotiable.
- Prefabrication as a delivery strategy, not just a sustainability choice. The pairing of 5-ply CLT with panelized stud walls was driven as much by construction sequencing and trade coordination as by embodied carbon goals.
- What supplier-contractor-engineer coordination looks like in practice. With Element5 and Milender White at the table alongside KL&A and EJ Architecture, the panel offers an honest look at how prefabrication tolerances, lead times, and site logistics shaped design decisions.
- Mass timber as a community equity tool. In a neighborhood with a documented history of environmental burden, the team will discuss how material choices, daylighting, and biophilic design were positioned as tangible benefits for residents, not just sustainability metrics
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more sessions
The Globeville Mixed-Use Development in Denver represents a convergence of community need, environmental equity, and structural innovation.
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Cost per square foot doesn't work for mass timber. So how do you know if a project pencils before you spend a year and a small fortune?
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Mass timber doesn't have to be the primary structural system to show up in a building