Architects are increasingly making the effort to specify certified wood, and it's showing up on many award-winning projects. The Queens Botanical Garden's Visitors' Center, New York City's first public LEED® Platinum-certified building, incorporated FSC-certified western redcedar. Designed by New York City-based BKSK architects as a nexus of botanical and cultural exploration for one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Queens County, the center was envisioned as an extension of the garden's mission to demonstrate environmental stewardship while celebrating the connections between people and plants. The Center is composed of a forecourt and dramatic roof canopy, a central reception and administration building clad in western redcedar, and an auditorium space tucked into the landscape itself, sheltered by a sloping green roof. BKSK chose western redcedar for both performance and aesthetic characteristics: durable and stable, cedar will naturally weather over time, reflecting the passage of seasons in the surrounding garden landscape.

Western redcedar from sustainably managed forests in British Columbia was used by Grimshaw Architects in designing the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. The center is a laboratory for both performing arts and science and provides state-of-the-art immersive environments for the senses of seeing and hearing including a concert hall, a theater, three performance studios and recording and editing facilities. The concert hall is the centerpiece of the building and is contained inside an enormous three-dimensionally curved wooden "hull," clad entirely in western redcedar tongue-and-groove planks, selected for superior technical performance characteristics in addition to esthetic qualities. The hull was subjected to a stringent series of flame spread tests and the cedar was judged to inherently conform to the Class B rating required, including the applied finish which met with the architect's demanding and diverse requirements.

Western redcedar from sustainably managed British Columbian forests was part of the environmental profile at RPI's the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. Photo: Grimshaw Architects