2 September 2025
The past five years have marked some of the biggest shifts in corporate culture. With the rise of hybrid and non-linear work models, employers, developers, and even investors are rethinking what makes a workplace effective, healthy, and inviting. At the same time, biophilic design and carbon impact are becoming commercial office imperatives. RIOS embraced these trends when envisioning 42XX, a creative mixed-use commercial development on LA’s Westside. The cross-laminated timber, steel, and glulam structure prioritizes flexible indoor-outdoor spaces, cuts embodied carbon, and showcases mass timber as a potential standard for next-generation office design.
WoodWorks Issue – 02 Sep 2025
Welcome
Greetings from your WoodWorks team. Australia’s largest wooden beams have been installed over the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, marking a major milestone in the $135m project, which remains on track to open this summer.
Christchurch has opened its new Court Theatre, featuring the innovative Batten & Cradle™ acoustic floor system, designed to enhance acoustic performance while preserving the aesthetic appeal of exposed timber.
How green are our European colleagues eh! With these multi-storey carparks in mass timber, who wants to go into the office, just work from your car!
Hybrid work models, biophilic design, and carbon impact, are exemplified by RIOS’s 42XX development which prioritizes flexible spaces and sustainable materials.
The Portland International Airport in Oregon recently celebrated its first anniversary. Not long after it was announced it was recognised as one of the world’s most beautiful airports. Of course being the only one with wood at its heart, it is top of any masstimberer’s list!
Registrations are open for our national WoodWorks Conference, 4-5 November in Rotorua. Sign up now to receive the Super Early Bird rate.
2 September 2025
Big country, big beams: Austrian beams for an Adelaide Pool
Australia’s largest wooden beams, by weight and volume, have now been installed over the Adelaide Aquatic Centre designed by JPE Design Studio and Warren and Mahoney – a major milestone...
2 September 2025
Innovative Acoustic Flooring Elevates Christchurch’s New Court Theatre
Christchurch has opened the doors to its new Court Theatre, a landmark project that showcases innovation in both design and construction. Among its standout features is the integration of the...
2 September 2025
A multi-storey car park in timber
The heating manufacturer Hargassner takes sustainability seriously: the new multi-storey car park at the site in Weng i. I. is a bold step towards CO2 reduction in infrastructure buildings. WIEHAG...
2 September 2025
Mass timber builds a better workday
The past five years have marked some of the biggest shifts in corporate culture. With the rise of hybrid and non-linear work models, employers, developers, and even investors are rethinking...
2 September 2025
Wood WINS again
The massive mass timber expansion at the Portland International Airport in Oregon recently celebrated its first anniversary. Not long after it was announced it was recognised as one of the...
2 September 2025
And one to end on… Children say the darndest things
I was visiting my son and daughter-in-law last night when I asked if I could borrow a newspaper. “This is the 21st century, old man,” he said. “We don’t waste...