Joel Burgess

jburgess@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE - This city will be the site of the continent's largest structure made from an alternative building product praised for its usability, flexibility and low environmental impact.

That is according to an Asheville architect whose firm plans to build a six-story apartment complex for homeless veterans made from cross-laminated timber, or CLT. Crawford Murphy's firm, MDS10 Architects, also wants to start producing CLT and hopes to become North America's largest manufacturer of the tree-based construction product.

"CLT is the most sustainable and advanced wood technology in the world today," Murphy told the City Council on June 28. At that meeting the council approved a six-story, 88-unit complex to be built for Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry in East Asheville.

CLT has been used for decades in Europe, Murphy said. It is produced in factories by gluing pieces of timber into panels. The panels are then crosslaid to form larger sections that are precut for specific building plans. The pieces are shipped to construction sites and can be assembled by just a few workers, even in the case of large buildings.

CLT is strong enough for high-rises and was used to build a 10-story apartment complex in Melbourne, Australia, in 2012. But it's lighter and more flexible than standard materials and can withstand stress from earthquakes or storms, say its proponents. It is also more fire resistant than many standard materials such as wallboard.

Murphy said CLT, which is nontoxic and a good insulator, actually sequesters carbon.

While there are larger CLT structures in other parts of the world, Murphy said Veterans Village will be the tallest and biggest use of the material in North America when it's finished in 2017.

"So it will go global in its publication and be a real credit to Asheville and to ABCCM for its forward thinking," the architect said.

Built in two phases, the complex will be 50,150 square feet on 5 acres in a bend of the Swannanoa River next to ABCCM's existing veterans facilities at 1401 Tunnel Road. It will cost more than $7 million.

Apartments will be a mix of studio and two-bedroom units. All facilities will be handicapped accessible.

Council members Cecil Bothwell and Gordon Smith said they were familiar with Murphy's efforts over the years promoting CLT. Both congratulated him, noting his persistence, which Smith called "dogged."

MDS10 has used CLT for projects in other areas, including Gastonia.

The architects now want to shift to manufacturing and have plans to build the country's largest CLT plant in Stuart, Virginia. Murphy said they've received taxpayer-funded economic incentives for the plant and are looking to spend $50 million on that facility and the headquarters in Asheville.