Enhancing Rapid-Build Structural Assemblies with Hybrid Hardwood-Softwood Mass Timber: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Hardwood timber resources are increasingly incorporated into mass timber building products in Central Europe leading to architecturally and structurally significant building outcomes; however, besides parallel strand lumber, the use of hardwood in American mass timber products is rare. In addition to solid hardwood mass timber products, hardwoods and softwoods can be combined into hybrid mass timber products that maximize the potential of each wood type. This paper presents a cross-cultural comparison of hybrid hardwood-softwood mass timber products produced in Central Europe and the United States with an emphasis on the utilization of such products in buildings designed for rapid assembly. This study focuses specifically on the performance enhancements that hardwoods have provided in softwood mass timber products developed in Central Europe and presents key cultural and economic factors that have limited the development of such high-performance hybrid mass timber products in the United States. The paper supports the position that novel architectural form and expression in mass timber can be achieved through hardwood-related structural and affective performance enhancements. The study also indicates that the slower maturation of the European mass timber market has positively influenced hardwood utilization in mass timber products. This study was conducted within the 'Wood Urbanism' research program at Virginia Techís campus in Switzerland in 2024.