Coming Soon: New Outdoor Collaboration Space
College of Natural Resources students are building the first outdoor structure on campus made from cross-laminated timber.
As part of a partnership between the College of Natural Resources, the College of Design and NC State Facilities, a new gathering space is being built between Biltmore and Jordan halls.
In April 2025, Payton Bell and Griffin Smith, undergraduate students majoring in sustainable materials and technology, were awarded a Sustainability Fund grant to build the first outdoor structure on campus made from cross-laminated timber, a sustainable, carbon-efficient, durable timber product.
Bell and Smith partnered with the School of Architecture’s design + build program to design the structure. The program allows student teams, led by experienced faculty, to design and build a project as part of a summer course.
Now that the design process is complete, NC State Landscape Construction Services will prepare the area between Biltmore and Jordan halls, beginning with limited tree removal.
Students will build the 425-square-foot structure throughout July and then plant native tree species to complete the project. The goal is for the structure to be ready for use by the start of the semester in August.
Disruption between Biltmore and Jordan halls should be limited. Most of the materials are being prefabricated in Hodges Wood Products Lab and the design studio in the College of Design.
Access to the sidewalks between the buildings and the other half of the courtyard is expected to remain open. However, the community should expect the students building the structure to be working very long days throughout July.
Stay tuned to learn more about this project as well as the donors and faculty who supported it.
