Ascent, Milwaukee Structurally Tops Out
New Land Enterprises and development partner Wiechmann Enterprises celebrate milestone as mass timber construction is structurally topped out.
Earlier this week, the final mass timber beams, columns and CLT roof were set into place at downtown Milwaukee’s Ascent construction site. The project’s key stakeholders gathered on 17 December 2021 to celebrate the milestone in a small topping-out ceremony.
As of today, Ascent has reached 284 feet (86.6 meters) and is on-track to become the world’s tallest building to use mass engineered timber as a primary structural element, pending ratification by the Council.
“Today is the culmination of years of determination and innovation for New Land and our partners,” commented Tim Gokhman, Managing Director of New Land Enterprises.
“Together, we’ve shown that we can build a more beautiful, sustainable and precise building faster, paving the way to transform development in the United States. The crews involved in construction have done an amazing job and should be very proud of today’s milestone.”
The project broke ground at the intersection of Kilbourn and Van Buren in August 2020, with timber construction commencing in June 2021. Just six months later, general contractor C.D. Smith Construction has topped out the innovative tower at 25 stories. The unique construction process used prefabricated columns and beams with factory-integrated connectors, making the construction process approximately 25 percent faster than by conventional means.
“This continues to be a job of amazing scale as we top off the building and proceed with the buildout,” says Chris Johansen, C.D. Smith Construction, Project manager. “We have a veteran-led team of talented craftsmen that really took ownership and are always looking for ways to build faster, smarter, safer.”
To this point, Ascent’s construction has involved more than 13,000 man-hours for timber installation; using 335,554 square feet (31,173 square meters) of CLT (cross-laminated timber) panels; 1,149 columns; 1,365 beams; 645,000 fasteners; and 122,000 screws.
“With an exceptional crew, we made the picks, screwed thousands of wrist-wrenching screws, nailed timber nails all day long and waterproofed to protect the product,” comments Bob Casper, C.D. Smith Construction, Site Superintendent.
With timber installation complete and glazing mostly up, the project is already moving into its final phase of interior buildout. The building’s 259 luxury apartment homes will feature beautiful, exposed timber ceilings and columns, top-tier finishes and expertly appointed fixtures. Ascent will also offer unparalleled amenities including an indoor/outdoor seventh floor pool, a rooftop cinema, a golf simulator, and world-class fitness center.
The fit-out of the residential units is expected to take until Summer 2022, when the building will officially open and CTBUH will ratify the height title.
The Council will continue to evaluate Ascent, as its research team develops a series of case studies associated with tall timber buildings. These case studies, including Ascent, will be published as part of an ongoing research project, “Future Timber City: An Awareness and Educational Program for Future, Sustainable, Dense Cities,” funded by the USDA Forest Service, and Binational Softwood Lumber Council. Read more on this research milestone here.
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