Freres Mass Ply Showcased in Washington’s Redmond Senior & Community Center
New community center will demonstrate Redmond’s respect for the landscape
Photo provided by Carpentry Plus Inc.
After three years of design development, Washington’s City of Redmond began construction on their new Redmond Senior & Community Center on June 2, 2022. This massive 52,000-square-foot facility will replace the city’s former senior center and provide space for recreational events and activities for Redmond’s senior residents and local families. The new center will also showcase the community’s reverence for the surrounding landscape, encouraging visitors to make the most of the amenities indoors as well as outdoor features like grassy areas and trails along the picturesque Sammamish River
With large windows to let in natural light as well as exposed wood elements throughout, even the design choices of Redmond’s new building demonstrate the community’s respect for nature. Among these design elements are a series of Mass Ply Panels (MPP) from Freres Engineered Wood. “MPP was used to create the second floor structure as well as the roof structure for the majority of the building,” says Jason Fehlman, CFO and superintendent of Carpentry Plus Inc., one of the many project partners involved in this build. The center also used MPP for an elevated track in the gymnasium, some select walls and stairs, and more.
Photo provided by City of Redmond
At the senior entrance of the new Redmond Senior & Community Center, visitors will first notice a striking double cantilever roof with exposed MPP, highlighting one of this product’s many superior characteristics over cross-laminated timber (CLT). “This double cantilever roof is a difficult thing for most wood materials to accomplish,” says Tyler Freres, Vice President of Sales at Freres Engineered Wood. CLT is a default choice for many builders in applications such as this, but the product requires more joists to support it. MPP, however, is a stronger material, allowing a single panel to cantilever in more than one direction.
“From an unbiased perspective, MPP has a better structural performance than CLT,” says Fehlman. “It’s stiffer than CLT, so it performs better when it’s cantilevering out.”
Upon entering the facility, guests will notice additional MPP showcased on the building’s interior walls. In this use, the product acts as a warm welcome to guests and a subtle nod to the outdoors, featuring Mass Ply’s high-quality upgraded architectural grade appearance option. Down the hall, visitors will reach the building’s impressive new gymnasium, with MPP displayed in yet another unique use as the floor of an elevated walk/jog track, circling the room.
Photo provided by Carpentry Plus Inc.
“I think the track is pretty cool, because of how tight of a fit it was to install it,” says Fehlman. “There was a radius that had to be cut to make the corners, and it had to fit into a piece of steel that had to have a nice reveal all the way around the track.”
Coupled with its obvious visual appeal, the elevated track will provide a means of sound dampening in the room.
The new Redmond Senior & Community Center is expected to open in the fall of 2024. Freres Wood is excited to see the finished facility and to work with mass timber advocates like Carpentry Plus and the many other partners involved in this build on future projects.
Download a PDF of the Redmond Senior and Community Center Case Study