Wood structures, when designed properly, have the potential to be more resilient than existing code requirements meaning they are not just safe during an earthquake, but able to sustain less damage and be reoccupied quickly afterward. Validating that potential through full-scale physical testing is the goal of the NHERI TallWood Project, a USDA-funded research collaborative of dozens of university and industry professionals from across the United States, and the program that produced the first seismic test of its kind for a CLT structure.

The research began with ideas first formulated during the design of Framework. As a project collaborator, LEVER worked with KPFF Consulting Engineers to develop a series of wood structure archetypes providing a basis-of-design for six-, twelve-, and twenty-story resilient wood buildings. In 2017, the team constructed a two-story version of the archetype and subjected it to full-scale seismic testing — generating the first performance data on CLT rocking walls, panelized diaphragms, and wall-to-floor connectors under real seismic loads. The results validated the resilient design methodology the team had set out to prove.

That two-story test was the first chapter. In 2022, a ten-story version of the archetype underwent full-scale seismic testing on an outdoor shake table at the NSF-funded NHERI experimental site at UC San Diego — the world's tallest full-scale wood building ever tested for seismic performance. 

Read more about the two-story seismic test and its outcomes here and the NHERI TallWood Project 10-Story Seismic Test here.