Palo Alto Mass Timber Elementary School Campus Replacement Tour

Regional In-Person Tour (Palo Alto, CA)

This course provides an in-depth look at the design and construction of a new all–mass timber school campus in Palo Alto. The full campus replacement project demonstrates how prefabricated mass timber systems can be used to achieve speed of construction, sustainability goals, and high-quality learning environments in a public-school setting.

Participants will tour the recently completed project and learn about the project’s approach to prefabrication, detailing, and construction sequencing. The new campus consists of four buildings—a kindergarten classroom, library and administration building, two-story classroom building, and a multipurpose space—all constructed using cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor and wall panels integrated with light-frame wood interior walls.

Through on-site discussion with members of the design and construction team, attendees will gain insight into how mass timber detailing, fabrication methods, and structural systems contribute to overall project efficiency and performance.

Credits: Attendees can earn 1.5 AIA/CES HSW LUs, 1.5 PDH credits or 0.15 ICC credits

Host:

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 covers a variety of building types, including residential, higher education, and retrofit of existing and historic structures. Chelsea is passionate about sustainability and the use of wood as a building material to reduce the embodied carbon emissions of structures.

Location:

Palo Alto Mass Timber Elementary School Campus

445 E Charleston, Palo Alto, CA

Onsite parking available.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss typical construction practices for exposed mass timber projects.
• Highlight a variety of structural and architectural uses of glulam and CLT framing through an in-person tour of a community-focused project.
• Demonstrate connection detailing techniques used in code-compliant mass timber buildings.
• Explain methods of fabricator/design team interaction that contribute to project success.

For questions or additional information, please contact:

Jaime Krohn, CMP | jaime@woodworks.org | (312) 841-8272

Photo credit: Hoover Elementary School, photo XL Construction