Light on Wood: Mass Timber Architecture is Susan H. Jones's first-hand account of building a practice around mass timber — tracing how atelierjones worked to decarbonise construction, rewrite fire codes, and design community-rooted buildings across the Pacific Northwest.
About This Book
Mass timber has re-entered the architectural mainstream, but few practices have done more to advance that shift than Seattle-based atelierjones. Light on Wood is not a survey of the field — it is a practitioner's account of what it actually takes to build with this material: investigating fire performance, conducting life cycle analyses, navigating code reform, and developing genuine relationships with local communities. Jones writes from two decades of experience in a region defined by its forests, and the result is a book that moves between technical rigour and spatial warmth. It is essential reading for architects and designers working with sustainable construction, timber engineering, or community-engaged design practice.
Key Features
- 316 pages of project photography, construction details, and technical documentation
- Author: Susan H. Jones, founder of atelierjones, Seattle
- Notable projects include the Marian Chapel in Seattle, First Congregational Church in Bellevue (Washington), and the Roundhouse in Greenville (California), designed for the Maidu people
- Published by Birkhäuser Verlag
What You'll Discover
- How atelierjones investigated timber's behaviour under fire conditions and worked to influence building code reform across multiple countries
- The life cycle analysis methodologies the practice used to build the research base for mass timber as a low-carbon structural material
- How community co-design shaped the spatial and material outcomes of projects such as the Roundhouse for the Maidu people
- The emotional and atmospheric qualities that distinguish mass timber from other structural systems — warmth, enclosure, and material presence
About the Author
Susan H. Jones is the founder of atelierjones, a Seattle-based practice she established approximately twenty years ago with a focus on mass timber and sustainable construction. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Jones has been a leading voice in decarbonising the built environment, contributing to both design practice and the body of technical research that has helped re-establish timber as a viable structural material in contemporary building codes.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover (cloth-bound)
- Pages: 316
- Dimensions: 28 x 19 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783035629903
- Publisher: Birkhäuser Verlag
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects and designers working with mass timber or sustainable construction; students and researchers in timber engineering and low-carbon building; those interested in community-engaged design practice in the Pacific Northwest.