Architectural Record recently published an article on Juno Austin. In the article, "Ennead's Mass-Timber Apartment Building in Austin, Texas Pioneers 'Productized' Housing," Architectural Record discusses potential benefits and applications for this unique building process.
Designed by Ennead, the new Juno structure relies on a kit of parts of about 30 custom-fabricated components, including mass-plywood-panel (MPP) floor slabs and columns, laminated-veneer-lumber beams, bathroom pods, and a unitized facade. The aim is to “productize” housing...
The apartments have a level of detail and finish that is unusual for rental housing, with features that include timber ceilings, wood floors, generously sized windows, and all-electric appliances. Instead of drywall, interior partitions are made of high-pressure laminate over a plywood core, with the edges of this substrate left exposed. “There is a degree of care and sophistication that cookie-cutter apartment buildings just don’t have,” says Tomas Rossant, an Ennead partner.
The kit of parts coupled with building information modeling (BIM) allows for modifications to accommodate market conditions or material availability, according to the Juno team. For instance, cross-laminated timber panels (CLT) could be substituted for the MPP floor slabs since there are a growing number of CLT suppliers, suggests Rossant.
Read the full article here.