Oregon’s experimental pavilion ‘challenges logic’ in trout timber

American architecture studio Lake Flatow and engineering and construction firm StructureCraft experimented with dowel glulam for a pavilion at the Mass Timber Conference in Oregon.

Lake Flato and Structurecraft collaborated on a pavilion using dowel laminated timber (DLT). DLT was originally developed in Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, but has gained popularity in the U.S. market over the past decade.

“This installation introduces a bent active shell system formed from dowel-laminated timber (DLT) that challenges the linear logic that has defined mass timber architecture for decades,” said Lake Flatt.

Similar to the more common mass timber products, glulam and cross-laminated timber, DLT uses softwood held together with hardwood dowels to create panels that can be bent flat. This is an alternative to hardwood slabs.

“We don’t use nails or glue,” Lake Flat partner Ryan Yeaden told Dezeen.

“This utilizes only the friction between the wood. And that’s what was really appealing to us and why we were really drawn to it. We’re trying to reduce our impact on the environment.”

The effect is an incredibly flexible panel that can be used for both flooring and ceilings, and as technology advances, it has the potential to be used in more structural applications.

“It’s almost cloth-like, but when assembled in a certain way, it becomes very stiff,” Yaden said. “Just drape it in place and secure it.”

Lake Flato used Structurecraft’s proprietary dowel model to create the 20-by-30-foot (6-by-9-meter) pavilion. It features standard two-by-four slats and was shipped flat before being assembled.

Once shaped into a wavy shape, the walls are attached to the pre-wired tracks on the ceiling element, on top of which straps and plywood are attached for added rigidity.

“Mass timber is no longer flat,” Lucas Epp, vice president and head of engineering at Structurecraft, told Dezeen.

“Our structural concept involves draping large quantities of flat-packed wood panels in curves on site to create a shell action, greatly increasing structural efficiency,” he continued. “This is the first time a bending active system has been created using a wood-based shell.”

On one side, the flexibility of the material is demonstrated by a door that swings out.

Yaden said the structure presents both biophilic elements and a demonstration of physics meant to attract people, and that the studio wanted to show that the technology was scalable.

“I think there’s something very fascinating about the way these shapes come together in the physics of structures that people are naturally drawn to,” Yaden said. “The balance of practicality and surprise makes people want to engage more meaningfully.”

Lake Flato and Structurecraft have used DLT in the past for hotel buildings in Austin.

The photo shows famous Japanese architect Kengo Kuma smiling as he interacts with the pavilion on the conference’s showroom floor.

Mass timber continues to innovate as building codes across the country change to accommodate it.

Studio Gang recently completed a bulk-wood teaching building at Harvard University, and Grafton Architects completed a square-roofed building in Arkansas.

The Mass Timber Conference was held from March 31st to April 1st in Portland, Oregon. For more international architecture and design events, check out our Dezeen event guide.