Building Better Labs with Mass Timber: Sustainability, Speed, and Wellness in Design
By integrating a mass timber structure, Shou Sugi Ban wood cladding, and low-carbon materials, Kaiser Borsari Hall minimizes its footprint and environmental impact while repurposing part of Western Washington University’s existing Communications Facility. Image: Courtesy of Mortenson
Mass timber is rapidly emerging as a transformative material in laboratory design. Once mostly used for residential or office projects, engineered wood systems are now shaping cutting-edge research facilities—where performance, precision, and sustainability intersect. For architects and planners, timber offers a path to lower embodied carbon, accelerate construction, and create human-centered spaces that support wellness, collaboration, and innovation.
From carbon source to carbon sink
Concrete and steel have long dominated laboratory construction, but their production carries a heavy carbon footprint—roughly 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Timber offers a renewable alternative. By storing “biogenic carbon” throughout a building’s lifespan, mass timber turns a structure into a living carbon sink.
At Western Washington University’s Kaiser Borsari Hall, the all-mass-timber structure reduced the global warming potential by 50 percent compared to steel and 70 percent compared to concrete, helping the facility pursue both Zero Energy and Zero Carbon certifications. Similarly, SGA’s upcoming nine-story timber lab and four-story amenities hub are projected to reduce embodied carbon by 40 percent compared with steel.
At the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex at Oregon State University, the team calculated a 108 percent reduction in embodied carbon over a traditional all-concrete approach when factoring in timber’s stored carbon. The 143,000-sf building, slated to open in 2026, is designed to reach net-zero operational carbon by 2030.
Learn more about OSU’s sustainability and mass timber initiatives at the 2026 Lab Design Conference, where Vladimir Pajkic and Susan Oehme of ZGF Architects will present “From Playbook to Practice: Advancing OSU’s College of Engineering with Strategic Planning and Mass Timber Innovation.”
These reductions aren’t just design wins—they support campus-wide decarbonization mandates, from OSU’s “Path to Carbon Neutrality” to WWU’s 2035 target, and influence broader low-carbon building policy.
Structural ingenuity under pressure
The design team behind The Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex at Oregon State University utilized locally sourced mass-plywood panels for primary structural members, fulfilling the university’s sourcing and equity desires. Image: Courtesy of ZGF
Laboratories demand strict vibration control, fire safety, and load-bearing capacity. Timber is meeting—and in some cases exceeding—these standards.
At OSU, achieving the vibration threshold of 2,000 microinches per second (MIPS) required Mass Plywood Panels (MPP) for columns and beams, paired with a composite cross-laminated timber deck topped with concrete. Fire resistance is achieved through engineered charring layers and concealed connections, allowing large timber members to self-insulate during a fire while preserving a clean aesthetic.
Similarly, at Kaiser Borsari Hall, Perkins&Will and Mortenson strategically located sensitive labs on grade and computational spaces above. Early use of cross-laminated timber diaphragms—before formal code adoption—demonstrated timber’s viability in high-performance lab construction.
Prefabricated timber panels and beams streamline the building process, reducing labor, waste, and construction time. At Kaiser Borsari Hall, Mortenson’s team assembled the structure during the Pacific Northwest’s wet season using pre-engineered connections and protective coatings. SGA’s projects are expected to benefit from similar efficiencies, including lighter deliveries, smaller crews, and a smaller carbon footprint.
Aquon Water Lab in The Netherlands, winner of the Excellence in Sustainable Design prize in the 2025 Design Excellence Awards, demonstrates the flexibility of modular lab layouts. Large grid modules allow future reconfiguration—whether adding automation, adjusting biosafety levels, or integrating new equipment—without major reconstruction.
Further reading: Lessons from a Mass Timber, Zero-Carbon Lab Design
Designing for energy, wellness, and flexibility
Laboratories in the Aquon Water Research & Analysis Laboratory are constructed in concrete and steel to accommodate technical demands, while the office, meeting, and communal spaces are built from mass timber. This hybrid system reflects a clear design logic—durability and safety for the labs and warmth and wellbeing for the people. Image: Courtesy of EVABLOEM
Sustainability in labs goes beyond materials. OSU’s Huang Complex captures heat from a 1-megawatt supercomputer, feeding it back into the campus district energy system. Kaiser Borsari Hall achieves an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 31, more than 80 percent lower than a typical lab.
Biophilic design further supports occupants: exposed wood, daylight, and natural textures improve wellness, reduce stress, and enhance cognitive function. OSU’s open, light-filled spaces foster interdisciplinary collaboration in climate science, AI, and robotics. WWU’s Kaiser Borsari Hall integrates inclusive spaces, including a multicultural student lounge, neurodiversity commons, and gender-neutral restrooms.
The University of Maine GEM facility takes this one step further by blending robotics, AI, and large-scale additive manufacturing into a low-carbon facility. Floor slabs are engineered to deflect less than the thickness of a sheet of paper, supporting robotic arms and cranes with extreme precision.
Further reading: University of Maine Launches Innovative GEM Research Facility
Lessons for lab designers and planners
Architects and planners exploring mass timber labs are learning key strategies:
Coordinate early: Integrate structural, MEP, and architectural design from day one.
Model and measure: Tools like EC3, Athena, and Tally help quantify embodied carbon and guide materials choices.
Zone strategically: Place vibration-sensitive labs on grade and use composites where stiffness is critical.
Leverage local supply chains: Regional sourcing supports sustainability and economic equity.
Show, don’t hide: Exposed timber reduces finish materials and reinforces identity.
Further reading: Water Lab Combines Sustainability, Human-Centered Design to Win 2025 Design Excellence Award
The GEM building at University of Maine provides students and researchers with manufacturing spaces with integrated robotics. Image: Courtesy of Grimshaw
The future of timber in lab design
Timber is proving that it can deliver across multiple dimensions of modern laboratory design, offering the structural performance required for precision research, operational energy efficiency, faster and more cost-effective construction, and human-centered spaces that support wellness and collaboration. As laboratories continue to evolve, timber’s unique combination of resilience, beauty, and carbon-conscious performance positions it at the forefront of next-generation lab design.
Further reading: Timber, Tech, and Sustainability: Inside OSU's Groundbreaking Research Complex
While timber may not replace concrete or steel in every application, its versatility allows it to complement traditional materials in hybrid approaches, offering flexibility in design and adaptability for future research needs. By integrating timber thoughtfully, lab designers can create environments that meet rigorous technical requirements while also contributing to broader sustainability goals and providing spaces that feel welcoming, engaging, and supportive for the people who use them.
