University of Michigan College of Pharmacy

The University of Michigan College of Pharmacy is a six-story, 142,000-square-foot teaching and research facility and the university's first mass timber building. The hybrid structural system combines concrete, steel, and mass timber, with steel and timber used at the first level and penthouse and mass timber comprising the primary structure on levels two through five. The exposed timber structure incorporates engineered wood products in a building type traditionally dominated by steel and concrete, demonstrating the viability of mass timber for technically demanding laboratory and research environments. The use of mass timber substantially reduced the building's embodied carbon while also supporting prefabrication, construction efficiency, reduced jobsite waste, and biophilic interior environments. The facility consolidates the College of Pharmacy's teaching, research, laboratory, administrative, and student spaces into a single building and has been described by the design team as the world's tallest mass timber research building.