Book Review (sort of): Solid Wood

Solid Wood: Case Studies in Mass Timber Architecture, Technology and Design by Joseph Mayo, published by Routledge, 2015. Paperback, 346 pages. (Amazon)



Last week I spoke with Joseph Mayo about his new book, putting together a piece over at World-Architects that highlights a few buildings featured as case studies in Mayo's book. An excerpt:

While obviously geared toward architects, given the voluminous technical advice in its pages, Solid Wood is hardly an esoteric read. Following an introductory section where Mayo gives a short history of building in wood, speaks about the carbon-sequestering benefits of mass timber construction, details various solid wood materials and concepts, and addresses concerns of building with wood (structure, fire, etc.), he then presents the case studies in eight geographical chapters: England, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, North America, and New Zealand and Australia. For each case study he clearly describes each project's details, aided by numerous illustrations: photographs of the completed buildings, construction photographs, floor plans, detail drawings, and diagrams. Too many books limit themselves to the first (glossy photos of finished buildings), so Solid Wood is a valuable book for architects interested in designing with wood.

Head over to World-Architects to read "Designing with Solid Wood."