Fayetteville-based Modus Studio has landed a $258,000 grant to help develop a storm shelter prototype built with laminated wood.
The architecture, interior and fabrication studio said in a news release that the funding will help it design a shelter that meets ICC 500 standards for a Federal Emergency Management Agency safe room.
Jason Wright, a partner at the studio, said the project started as an Arkansas conversation.
“We have the forests. We have the manufacturers. We have school districts required by code to build storm shelters,” he said. “If we can validate (cross-laminated timber) for this application here, it opens a responsible, scalable pathway not just for our state, but for tornado-prone communities across the country.”
Modus has been designing FEMA-compliant safe rooms for Arkansas, and other multipurpose storm shelters across the U.S.
Funding for the project came from the Softwood Lumber board and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The lumber board is an industry initiative focused on promoting the uses, and economic and environmental benefits, of softwood lumber products.
Modus said despite the state’s being rich in timber, school districts are limited to using concrete when building shelters because of building codes. By expanding into wood construction, the initiative aims to support resilient infrastructure while also opening new markets.
“While cross-laminated timber is transforming markets across the country, ICC 500 storm shelter standards have not yet established a clear, tested compliance pathway for mass timber assemblies,” the company said in its announcement.
The grant will aim to have cross-laminated wood products established as a performance-based and code-recognized wall and roof assembly for community storm shelters.
Modus will lead a team consisting of Aspect Engineers, Mercer Mass Timber, Sterling Structural and ICC-ES to conduct accredited testing of Southern Yellow Pine cross-laminated capacities.
Mercer operates a factory in Conway, and has had its cross-laminated wood and glulam used for projects at the Walmart Inc. Home Office and the Cheha State Park Lodge in Alabama.
ICC is the international code council, and ICC 500 is the National Storm Shelter Association standard for design and construction of shelters, with ICC-ES being a nonprofit evaluation service.
The shelter testing will be compliant with tornado shelter criteria including missile impact, wind pressure and connection performance.
All testing for the project will be done in coordination with ICC-ES and structural engineering partners, according to Modus. Results of the tests will be submitted for certification review.
The project will finish with an ICC-ES compliance package, a technical report, and a publicly available white paper outlining testing results and certification pathways, and act as a practical resource for architects, engineers, manufacturers and school districts.
