CLT Innovation at Millbrae Rec Center Leads by Example

Project sponsors and designers often ask: What is the big idea or impact of the project? At the Millbrae Recreation Center nearing a spring 2022 completion, the big idea was to design a community building utilizing the latest in sustainable building materials but on a very tight budget.

Millbrae planned the 24,000-square-foot recreation center based on then-current construction and design standards, but added a challenge for the team of ELS Architecture, Forell|Elsesser Structural Engineers and Blach Construction: could the facility be built using high-sustainability techniques at no extra cost?

The answer is a rec center utilizing three-ply and five-ply cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels to frame the second floor and roof, which gave the structure the benefit of using lower-carbon-intensive wood components compared to steel and concrete. This results in a lighter overall weight that improved the building’s seismic performance.

“Using CLT panels in a way that spanned across steel beams, girders and columns created a hybrid structural engineering solution,” said Allen Nudel of Forell|Elsesser. “The natural color of the CLT panels will be left exposed underneath at both their exterior and interior implementations, providing a beautiful and functional design element. We combined the CLT with a buckling restrained-brace frame system to provide the appropriate seismic performance needed.”