Case Studies
Aerospace manufacturer uses mass timber to meet speed, sustainability goals
Janicki Building 10 Project Case Study
Janicki Industries, an engineering and manufacturing company specializing in advanced composite materials and assemblies for the aerospace, defense, and other high-tech industries, landed an important contract and needed a new building. But when it was time for Building 10, supply chain issues had created a 12- to 14-month wait time for steel bar joists. To meet their contract, they knew they needed something different. The company’s president, John Janicki—a former architect himself—told the project team he wanted to solve the problem using mass timber.
“We wouldn’t have met our contract if we hadn’t switched to mass timber,” says John Janicki. “But even though speed was a big part of our decision, we’d been wanting to build using wood for some time. Forest health is important to me, and I’m a huge proponent of doing whatever we can to manage the resource so we have a forest products industry that can go on forever.”
Schedule Drove Decisions
Originally slated to be just 60,000 sf, the building tripled in size as Janicki’s contract grew. Jordan Janicki, Principal of structural engineering firm DCG/Watershed said that meant they needed to focus even more on value engineering the project for speed. “It was a crazy schedule,” said Jordan. “We started schematic design in February 2022; it became a 90,000-square-foot building in March, and then grew again in size from there. We finalized drawings at the end of March and applied for permits in May. Close coordination played a critical role throughout the entire process.”
“A few of our crew were familiar with mass timber, but most relied on their steel construction experience; it was an easy transition.” – Dan Fisher, Chad Fisher Construction
Project Details
Location: Hamilton, Washington
Stories: Two
Size: 188,000 square feet
Construction Type: Type V-B
Completed: Spring 2023
Project Team
Owner/Developer: Janicki Industries
Architect: Carletti Architects
Structural Engineer: DCG/Watershed
General Contractor: Chad Fisher Construction
Mass Timber Manufacturer: Vaagen Timbers
Connectors and Fasteners: Simpson Strong-Tie
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