Build a Timber Frame Factory
Heavy Timber Construction is well-suited to factories and other industrial buildings. A vintage-feeling industrial design that includes wood trusses with steel plates and joinery looks perfect in any factory or production structure. As well as being aesthetically appropriate, steel reinforcement helps our trusses span the great distances that are often required in factory designs. Thanks to steel reinforcement, our trusses have spanned as far as sixty feet.
Build
With a Custom Shop
Every factory we have designed has had different requirements based on its purpose. Let us custom design a factory to your specifications.
The Process
We make the process of designing your timber frame factory simple and collaborative, working with you from concept, to design, to installation. Bring your ideas and inspiration, and together we will create an attractive, functional custom timber frame that meets your specific aesthetic tastes and practical needs of the factory floor.
In factories, form follows function. Aisles can be made wide for forklifts, and ceilings can be high for storage and equipment. A viewing balcony outside the work areas for customer tours, and a timber framed entry and lobby might be a great way to dress up the space. Some factories also have factory stores, which are always fun to design.
Designing for structural loads is where we start in factories. Second floors need to be strong enough to support people and equipment, and columns need to be reinforced laterally. We start with the engineering, taking into consideration the designers criteria as well as critical loads. Then we develop a 3D model for client review and we prepare 2D shop drawings for production, sealed with an engineer’s stamp.
After a timber order is placed, raw beams are sent to us from the sawmill. All of our frames are laid out and cut by hand. All the joints are cut, the peg holes are drilled, and each timber is individually marked on the end according to its exact location in the frame. Steel gusset plates are fabricated and shop primed by our supplier off-site to our exact specifications.
We pre-assemble trusses and major components on our shop floor. If they are shorter than 10 feet we can ship the assembled parts over the road. If they are taller, we will ship them unassembled to be re-assembled on-site. After delivery, all the parts are staged on the ground for a crane to lift into place. Our crew, or the local site crew, joins them together.
Factories Portfolio
Vermont Timber Works has constructed timber trusses for both the Vermont Teddy Bear Company and the Badger Balm Company. Look at our project portfolio for examples of our past work building industrial timber frames.
