Promega Feynman Center, “The Crossroads”

The Crossroads, a client and staff reception area, is part of the Promega Feynman Center, a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) facility in Wisconsin. To contrast the GMP with a warmer aesthetic while meeting sustainability objectives, the design team chose a combination of glued laminated timber beams and a cross laminated timber (CLT) roof. The structure has a complex footprint, forming a sinuous S-curve that wraps around one corner of the rectangular GMP facility. The team was challenged to use a material that would perform well for the long-span deck needed to cover the curved roof—and CLT provided the solution. However, with virtually no square angles in the structure, beam-to-column connections were a challenge. To avoid more than 100 different configurations, the engineer designed a steel pin connector that allows as much as 10 degrees rotation in either direction, providing the required swivel to fit nearly all of the connections. Although CLT is relatively new to North America, the project earned local building department approval thanks in part to the new ANSI/APA Standard for Performance-Rated Cross-Laminated Timber. The design team discussed the standard with building officials, and submitted engineering information under the ‘alternate designs’ section of the International Building Code (IBC).