Primary Venue

The bulk of the conference’s educational events will be taking place in John W. Olver Design Building on the UMass Amherst Campus. The John W. Olver Design Building is the shared home of the Department of Architecture, the Building and Construction Technology program, and the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning. At its core, the Design Building has a contemporary, heavy-timber (“mass timber”) wood structure, consisting of an exposed glulam frame (columns, beams, braces), cross-laminated timber (CLT) and concrete composite floors, and CLT shaft walls (for stairs, elevator, and mechanical shafts). It also features a three-story, folded, grand CLT stair in the atrium.

This project was supported by the MA State Legislature as a demonstration project for wood structures. At the upper level, the building has a roof garden, which is supported by a long-span wood-steel truss system (a “zipper” truss) that is exposed in the atrium below. Besides the wood structure, this building features: LED lighting, motion sensors, ample daylighting, electro-tinting glass, heat-recovery systems, bioswales, rain gardens, low-flow faucets, and more.

John W. Olver Design Building Awards

  • WoodWorks, 2018 Jury’s Choice for Wood Innovation
  • Boston Society of Architects, Honor Award 2017
  • World Architecture News, Wood Award Shortlist 2017
  • World Architects Magazine U.S. Building of the Year, 2018
  • ACEC/MA Engineering Excellence Award – Gold Winner, 2018
  • The Plan Award, Education Finalist, 2017
  • Engineering News Record – Award of Merit for Best Projects in New England 2017
  • Eagle Award from the Annual Associated Builders & Contractors of Massachusetts Excellence in Construction Awards Competition,  2017
  • 2017 Architectural Engineering Institute (ASCE), Most Innovative Project Award (less than $100 million), (SGH award)
  • 2017 Architectural Engineering Institute  (ASCE), Award of Merit, Structural Systems Design, (SGH award)
  • 2017 Architectural Engineering Institute  (ASCE). Award of Merit, Architectural Engineering Integration, (SGH award)

Project Team