Business View Magazine | September 2020

36 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2020 “It’s like when you buy a car,” he claims. “There are certain cars that feel better to be in than others. It’s partly aesthetics, it’s partly performance, it’s partly the comfort that you feel in the space. So, when you’re in a cold, grey shell, you get one feeling, and when you’re in a warm wood environment, you get another sense of being. That’s probably the ultimate thing. When we went full tilt into this business, the number one driving factor, for me, at least, was that being in one of these buildings feels different than being in an office building with dropped acoustic ceiling tiles. It’s two totally different experiences. In the one experience, I want to be there. I’ve had an owner come into a building that we built and just sit on the couch and hang out. They just liked being there. The feel of that interior environment makes a huge difference and I think part of it is a powerful subconscious response. Companies looking at retaining employees or attracting talent are focused on how to make the work experience that they offer beneficial and enjoyable. Exposed mass timber speaks to that higher level of satisfaction. It can lead to better employee performance and a lower attrition rate.” Intangible experiences notwithstanding, Swinerton Mass Timber is still a business and tangible progress is always on the agenda. Currently, Evans reports that the company is in the process of bringing a Glulam fabrication facility online. Glulam is a type of structurally- engineered, mass timber product constituted by layers of dimensional lumber bonded together with durable, moisture-resistant structural adhesives. “By us being able to have that ability in-house – it helps bring more Glulam manufacturers into the commercial mass timber industry,” he states. “You can build a mass timber building by cutting everything onsite, but that’s not what our definition of a mass timber building is. Our definition is that a mass timber building is a prefabricated kit apart; it has all the hardware on the beams and columns; it clicks together quickly onsite; it has pre-cut holes for all mechanical, electrical, and