On Saturday, May 6, 2017 at 1:33:02 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Why? Seven stories is pretty tall. Maybe not skyscraper material, but fairly tall for a building. Since the early 1900s builders have been making these buildings using welded or riveted together steel beams. I'm pretty sure they have gotten this figured out and know how to make the best building. Why intentionally choose to use a method that is less strong, more costly, more time consuming. If a house builder said he hand nailed ever stud, joist, rafter, sheathing, siding and never ever used a pneumatic nailer, would you say that is good? I wouldn't. I think glue covered nails shot in with air makes a stronger, better, faster house in general. Or a blacksmith (if there are any left) using his muscles and a hammer to forge, pound a piece of metal instead of a pneumatic or hydraulic hammer, press. I'd bet the modern pneumatic, hydraulic press/hammer is better.

Dunno, Russell, it's a good question and you're probably right. But from a Commercial Real Estate point of view, Developers, Managers and Owners are always looking for a way to create a unique product-- something that sets them apart from everyone else.

From an Engineering point of view, it's good to be the one to figure out how to rival the ability you described, but with more traditional methods.

From an architectural point of view, it's all of the above, compounded exponentially. (Enter your favorite Contractor, Engineer & Architect joke here..)

At the end of the day, my own questions are those like this--

What is this building's marketing appeal?
Does the wood envelope matter to people, or is it "just" the location or "any new building whatsoever" that matters to the tenants?
Can I lease it for similar (or more) money and keep the same vacancy rate as the other buildings in the area?
Does the public like it? Are they willing to spend equal or more to have their office here?
What is the CapEx on a building like this? Can we use wood and still retain lower levels & cost of maintenance?
(etc.)