COhatch is a key developer transforming Powell, Ohio’s downtown district, and Schaefer joined the team for the new coworking facility as the structural engineer of record, mass timber specialty engineer + mass timber special inspector.
The three-story office building has diverse spaces to fulfill its members’ needs. The first two floors are all business – coworking + meeting spaces, private offices, phone booth rooms, podcast rooms + kitchen. The third floor is the other end of the spectrum – an event space + rooftop bar.
The third floor was designed set back from the front facade to better blend in with the downtown cityscape, which predominately consists of one + two-story buildings. Stairs to the rooftop cantilever off of the building.
COhatch was built on a previously demolished site in an urban area. The structure’s primary building material is mass timber – specifically cross-laminated timber + glulam – chosen for aesthetics + sustainability. Schaefer added value with our mass timber knowledge, as the only design + construction team member with past experience with the materials. Additional construction materials included cold-formed metal framing, metal panels + masonry veneer for exterior cladding.
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Dear team,
I visited Columbus for a wedding last year and saw this structure. I live in Sweden and am involved in promoting cooperation internationally within the value chain between forest and timber building. I am curious about this project and your construction initiative.
Is building in mass timber considered risky by the client? How did this decision come to be? Are providers of glue lam and CLT involved? Are there incentives in the city or state for shifting to biobased building?
I will be happily surprised if you find time in your busy day to reply. But in any case – congratulations to this initiative and a very nice building!
Thank you for your interest in mass timber + this cool project. Mass timber is picking up steam in the United States! It can take time to garner adopters, and we’re really proud of our mass timber thought leaders + experience that have brought awareness to this material on a national level.
It’s our goal to help clients + owners chose the structural solution that works for their project – whether mass timber helps them reach their goals, or whether they’re better suited with a more traditional solution. There can be incentives to using mass timber, especially when sustainability + LEED come into play. We do work directly with the mass timber providers on all of the products used in the projects – it’s the nature of how these buildings come together.