This shot was captured during erection of the mass timber structure at San Jacinto Community College’s classroom building in Pasadena, Texas, at the beginning of 2021. According to Walter P Moore, the structure will be the largest instructional building in the U.S. constructed from mass timber. The floor plate is made of cross-laminated timber with a concrete topping over an acoustic layer with glulam columns that have steel braces and feature glulam braces.

Mass timber creates a construction site of a different character than one of concrete and steel, and the structure is erected quickly with a small crew, six individuals in this case. The moment the floors are placed they are ready to accept construction loads without shoring, and as a result, other trades can being working on a site that otherwise would see little activity.