The Softwood Lumber Board and USDA Forest Service have announced The Village SF Wellness Center as a winner of their 2023 Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero Carbon.

Funded by SLB and the Forest Service, the competition awarded five projects a combined $2.2 million to demonstrate mass timber’s application in architectural design and to highlight its role in reducing the built environment’s carbon footprint. Finalists were chosen by an independent jury representing the fields of architecture, structural engineering, construction, real estate development, and forest products, and selected for design excellence, entrant commitment to innovation in the design and construction of mass timber in the U.S., and commitment to domestically sourced wood from sustainably managed forests. Other criteria included replicability and the commitment to sharing on the project's performance, cost analysis, and construction strategies.

The results were announced on October 19th at the Chicago Architectural Center, in conjunction with the Center's mass timber exhibition, REFRAMED: The Future of Cities in Wood. The 2023 cycle is the competition’s second annual; in 2022, six projects were awarded a combined $2 million.

The Softwood Lumber Board is an industry-funded initiative established to promote the benefits and uses of softwood lumber products in outdoor, residential, and non-residential construction. The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service sustains the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations, promoting lasting economic, ecological, and social vitality.