UMass Amherst John W. Olver Design Building

Amherst

United States

The John W. Olver Design Building at UMass Amherst is a truly innovative structure. In this building, the designers at Leers Weinzapfel, Equilibrium Consulting, and Simpson Gumpertz and Heger have created a trendsetting timber structure that is warm, inviting, and sustainable.

Owner: University of Massachusetts Amherst

Architects: Leers Weinzapfel Associates

Structural Engineers: Equilibrium Consulting Inc. and Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.

Construction Manager: Suffolk Construction

Timber Supplier: Nordic Structures

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Design-Built Structural Solution

CAST CONNEX offers design-build services for custom-cast steel nodes and components. We leverage steel casting manufacturing to offer our clients unparalleled opportunities for optimization and beauty in structural form.

UMass Amherst John W. Olver Design Building

Even timber structures require steel fasteners and connections, and there are very few steel products that can match the organic warmth and feel of wood like a steel casting. CAST CONNEX had the pleasure of supplying architecturally exposed steel cast connectors for elegant king-post trusses comprised of timber compression struts and steel cable tension elements. In each truss, the compression and tension elements connect to a central hub. Due to the non-symmetric layout of the space, each king-post truss has a unique geometric configuration.

CAST CONNEX supplied Timber End Connectors™ to Nordic Structures for use at the ends of the glulam compression struts. On one end the castings connect to the timber via glued-in threaded rods and on their other end the castings connect to the central hub or upper gusset plates via a pin connection.

The attention to detail by the design team created a stunning space in a tremendously unique building which is surely a welcome addition to the UMass Amherst campus.