Building Taller: Reaching Six Stories with Light-Frame Wood

Building Taller: Reaching Six Stories with Light-Frame Wood 

Six-story light-frame wood construction can provide opportunities to increase density in mid-rise buildings, but maximizing building height while meeting code, structural, fire-resistance, and constructability requirements requires careful coordination across the project team. This presentation will examine the design and construction of six-story light-frame wood buildings, including building code considerations and structural strategies that make taller light-frame construction possible. Through project examples, attendees will explore approaches to framing, prefabrication, integration of mass timber and light-frame systems, and coordination of building services. The presentation will also highlight lessons learned through design and construction and how collaboration among architects, engineers, contractors, and fabricators can improve constructability and building performance.

Credits: Attendees can earn 1.0 AIA/CES HSW LU, 1.0 PDH credit or 0.10 ICC credit

Speakers:

Joseph Mayo, AIA, LEED AP | Associate Principal Mahlum Architects Inc.

Joe Mayo is a Seattle architect at Mahlum and author of Solid Wood: Mass Timber Architecture, Technology and Design, the first English-language book focused exclusively on institutional mass timber buildings. A leader in low-carbon, biophilic design, he has contributed to more than a dozen mass timber projects and helped advance mass timber through code development and federally funded research. Over nearly two decades of practice, Joe has designed a wide range of academic and multi–family housing projects utilizing light wood framing, demonstrating how wood construction can deliver cost-effective, durable, and low-carbon solutions for housing, education, and community infrastructure. His work explores how both mass timber and light wood framing can expand the use of wood as a high-performance, sustainable building material in the built environment.

 

Camie Mamer, P.E., DBIA  | Structural Project Manager, Coughlin Porter Lundee

With 10 years at Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Camie serves as a Structural Project Manager, leading structural engineering efforts across a diverse portfolio of design-build and higher education projects. Her experience includes projects representing more than $600 million in construction, including several projects on the University of Washington campus. She brings a collaborative, solutions-focused approach to structural design, emphasizing constructability and coordination to deliver successful project outcomes. 

 

Chelsea Drenick, SE  | WoodWorks

Chelsea is a licensed structural engineer in the state of California. She received her BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College and MS in Civil Engineering from Stanford University. Chelsea spent nine years in structural design consulting prior to joining WoodWorks. Her experience is in a variety of sectors including residential, higher education and retrofit of existing and historic structures. She is passionate about sustainability and the use of wood as a building material to reduce the embodied carbon emissions of structures.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Identify building code provisions and fire-resistance requirements that influence the design of six-story light-frame wood buildings and contribute to occupant health and safety.
• Evaluate structural framing strategies for six-story light-frame wood construction, including the integration of light-frame and mass timber systems to address structural, architectural, and building performance requirements.
• Discuss how prefabrication, framing configuration, and coordination of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems can improve constructability while maintaining required fire-resistance and structural performance.
• Explain how early coordination can address design and construction challenges associated with taller light-frame wood buildings and support safe, efficient project delivery. 

Online Attendees:

• WoodWorks will send each attendee a certificate of completion within 2 weeks via email.
• Please note that to receive a certificate, attendees must stay for the duration of the event.

For questions or additional information, please contact:

Mary Schramka | mary.schramka@woodworks.org | 708.204.9578

Image: Haggatt Hall, University of Washington, Mahlum Architects, Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Photo Anderson Construction