Using Western Red Cedar in Commercial and Multifamily Buildings  

Wood is a natural, renewable, and sustainable building material that has garnered more attention in building designs. While there are many species of wood available to choose from, western red cedar (WRC) has been a preferred and appealing choice for many buildings over the past 150 years for a lot of good reasons related to design, construction, and maintenance. WRC products come from trees grown in forests in the Pacific Northwest area of North America, but they are used in buildings around the world because of their warm, natural, aesthetic appeal and well-known durability and stability. While its use has been growing, many think of it only for residential (single-family) design. The fact is that, in recent years, WRC has become notably more popular in nonresidential buildings too. The types of buildings that architects are selecting it for include well-designed multifamily buildings, commercial structures, retail settings, hospitality and resort facilities, museums, churches, educational facilities, and most other project types where beauty and durability are sought. This course will look at some of the more diverse and innovative uses of cedar across this broad set of building types.

Cedar Siding Attributes

Architects, interior designers, building owners, and facility managers have been drawn to use WRC for some specific reasons. These include:

• Appearance: WRC is real wood with the corresponding authentic appearance of wood. Its grain and natural color have helped it to become Cedar Siding Attributes regarded as a superior aesthetic imbued with decidedly crisp yet superbly rich tonal properties. It is quite attractive in a variety of commercial and other building types in a range of design styles, including traditional, contemporary, arts and crafts, and modern styles.
• Durability: WRC is well known for its longevity and durability due to the natural makeup of the wood. It has been found to be naturally resistant to rot, decay, and insect attacks, which means anything built with it will last longer and require less maintenance.
• Sustainability: Independent studies prove that when it comes to environmental performance, natural wood is superior to synthetic products in every way. While other building materials generate greenhouse gases, WRC trees actually remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Further, unlike many manufactured or composite material, WRC is fully biodegradable at the end of its useful life. Perhaps one of the best-known sustainability attributes of WRC is that it is a renewable resource when harvested and replanted using sustainable forest practices. In fact, WRC in North America is sourced from some of the most sustainably managed forests in the world. These forests are managed by private companies who participate in sustainability certifications such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and Canadian Standards Association (CSA). The LEED rating system for green buildings now recognizes all three of these certifications.
• Versatility: WRC offers a wide range of sizes, surface textures, grades, and profiles—both standard and custom. Therefore it is easy to incorporate into a wide range of design schemes and patterns.
• Profiles: A virtually unlimited variety of common and specialty profiles of cedar siding, boards, and trim are made to suit different design and construction needs. These include beveled, lapped, tongue and groove, and boards for board and batten applications in various thicknesses and profiles for vertical and horizontal siding, paneling, and trim board applications.
• Grades: Recognized independent agencies use grading systems to identify different appearance lumber grades as distinct from structural lumber grades for cedar. These grading systems use terms like “clear vertical grain heart,” “A,” “B,” “rustic,” “select knotty,” and “architect knotty,” among others. The word “heart” in the case of grading cedar refers to the inner wood in a tree as opposed to the narrow outer sapwood between the heartwood and the bark.
• Surface texture: The surfaces of cedar products are available with a smooth surface, a rough-sawn appearance, or a rougher headed texture, any of which can be specified to suit different project needs.
• Fasteners: High-quality, corrosion-resistant fasteners that prevent staining and discoloration (i.e., stainless steel, aluminum, hot-dipped galvanized) help to assure that both the appearance and the performance are maintained over time.
• Finish: Unlike some other wood species, WRC is pitch and resin free. This means it’s ideal for accepting and holding a wide range of wood finishes, including clear stains, semi-transparent stains, solid stains, or paint to protect and preserve appearance and meet a variety of design needs for tonal properties or finished appearances.

In all, WRC is a building material that contributes to dramatic or sublime design schemes, is readily and easily workable on a construction site, and holds up extremely well over time. With these attributes in mind, we will focus next on some specific ways that it is being incorporated into different building types around the United States and Canada to achieve excellence in design and construction.

Cedar Exteriors on Commercial Buildings

When thinking about materials for a commercial building exterior, there are some misconceptions about cedar that need to be cleared up. Perhaps the most common is that cedar is a high-maintenance product and, as such, shouldn’t be used on commercial buildings. In fact, cedar performs better and requires less maintenance than most man-made materials, particularly plastic composites that simulate a wood appearance. This has been proven in countless buildings where cedar is allowed to naturally weather and develop its own patina or where it is stained with a long-lasting finish. Bo Helliwell, AIBC, FRAIC, architect at Helliwell + Smith, has notes, “In our building experience, we have come to trust cedar for its beauty and natural durability in exterior applications.”

Another misperception is that cedar can’t look modern on the exterior of a building, only rustic and woody. The reality is that cedar is being used beautifully in all styles of buildings, including some very modern ones. Lloyd Russell, AIA, has a history of designing modern buildings and states, “My goal is to make handmade Modernism. The warmth and depth of cedar helps me achieve that.”

Finally, there is an unfounded fear that cedar is not cost-effective. Anyone who does a simple comparative cost analysis will often find that it is very competitive with other cladding and siding materials in terms of first costs since the grade, finish, and profile can be selected to suit a full range of budget needs. Further, its long-term durability and low maintenance make it cost-effective over the life of the building. Jeff Jordan, principal with Jeff Jordan Architects, makes this statement about a recent project where cost and other attributes were the deciding factor on the exterior material choice: “Cedar is such a prominent part of the look, and it would have been difficult to find another material that has both a natural appearance and can weather naturally over time.”

With these aspects cleared up, let’s take a closer look at three specific projects where WRC played a prominent role in the exterior building design. For our first example of cedar being used on the exterior of a commercial building, we begin with a dormitory style project for a well-known architectural institute in Pennsylvania.

High Meadow Dwellings at Fallingwater

About the Project: Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson – Architects, this project is located on a historic farm adjacent to Frank Lloyd Wright’s renowned Fallingwater residence in Mill Run, Pennsylvania. It serves as a home base for students of Fallingwater Institute’s summer residency programs in architecture, art, and design. The facilities, which are positioned between forest and fields, consist of an original four-bedroom 1960s cabin and four newer units, plus a screened porch connected to the main entry for outdoor gathering and dining space.

High Meadow was intended to complement its rural setting in both form and function, and it provides students of all ages the opportunity to be inspired by architecture that exists in harmony with its setting. One major element that serves as visual inspiration originated in 2015 during the design stage of the four new units, when it was decided that WRC would be an ideal material to fulfill aesthetic as well as durability needs.

The Design: Although Fallingwater has for more than 20 years sponsored on-site residency programs, by 2015, it decided that the original split-level cabin was not large enough to meet future program demands. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the Pennsylvania-founded architectural practice best known for its iconic designs for Apple stores globally, was retained to expand lodging with four dwelling units tied to the main facility via a shared porch and walkway.

In creating the units, the architects remained faithful to the overall goal of restoring, preserving, and fostering an appreciation of the natural world. In order to reduce the project’s physical footprint, it positioned the new units above ground on a network of steel columns, with a simple wooden walkway rising from the forest floor to the elevation of the new porch. This screened porch was designed to have a vaulted wooden ceiling and provide views of the meadow and hills beyond. A dark slatted wall would stitch the four units and the porch together with the original cabin, and a screened walkway would lead from the porch to each dwelling—altogether imparting a sparse elegance entirely in keeping with the natural surroundings.

Wood was the prime material for the expansion project: cork flooring is used throughout, and walls and ceilings are made of marine-grade BCX plywood; a horizontal screen of Norway spruce—harvested and milled on-site—is located outside of the four units; and the cabin exteriors are clad in cedar stained shale gray.

The Cedar Solution: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is hardly a stranger to WRC: it has been using the material extensively for decades for its visual appeal and resiliency, attributes the architects say are due to its superior performance characteristics. Specifically for this project, architectural knotty-grade WRC was used for its predominant grain structure and the silvery-grey patina it would take on over time for the porch, window frames, and doors.

This grade of wood was stained semitransparent grey for the siding, and its use both as an interior as well as an exterior element helped provide visual unity to the entire High Meadow site. All of the porch trims are of WRC, but due to its instant accessibility, structurally graded Douglas fir was used for the ceiling beams.

The Results: The expansion of High Meadow Dwellings is a classic case of WRC being used along with other wood species to impart a less-is-more visual aesthetic. Its materials and finishes are deliberately simple and durable, while their use is pared back to impart the sense of sparse elegance desired by the owners. Fallingwater Institute is now able to double its reach of programming, while creating only minimal disturbance to the historic site. The project won the Silver Award for Architecture from The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Pennsylvania Chapter in 2016.

Moving from the East to the Midwest, let’s look now at the award-winning St. Paul Saints’ baseball stadium, which is designed to be the greenest ballpark in America, and to which comedian Bill Murray is both co-owner and “team psychologist.”

CHS Field Saint Paul Saints Stadium

About the Project: The 7,210-seat CHS Field in the Lowertown district of St. Paul, Minnesota, opened in 2015 after three years of design and construction and is now many things to many people. For sports fans, it is the new home to the St. Paul Saints, with unique design elements that include a seating bowl built into the natural topography of the site. For local residents, it is a revitalized green space in an area where one of the 10 most contaminated sites in the Twin Cities once sat. And from an environmental standpoint, CHS Field is designed to be the greenest ballpark in America, with a rainwater harvesting system, solar panels, and many other energy-savings features.

While a host of diverse elements attract people to CHS Field (about 450,000 guests are expected yearly), one element stands out as a universally pleasing eye-catcher: the ballpark’s extensive use of WRC.

The Design: This project is a collaboration of Snow Kreilich Architects acting as design architects, Ryan Architecture + Engineering serving as the architect of record, and AECOM filling the role of sports architect. The $63-million CHS Field was conceived primarily as a green space amidst 19th century warehouses (a region of widespread preservation initiatives and gentrification). The design adheres to this concept, starting with concourse amenities pushed back into the hillside. The seating bowl and playing field are depressed into the natural topography, thus preserving the visual connection to surrounding Lowertown. The concourse itself doubles as a 360-degree walkway, allowing patrons to navigate the entire field.

The architectural collaboration sought to enhance the social experience endemic to baseball by providing open seating opportunities in the park. They also included an art courtyard behind home plate, outdoor terraces at the suite level, and a large terrace.

Sustainability was a major objective and would result in a 27,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system to provide 25 percent of the property’s irrigation needs, a 100-kWh solar array that would provide 15 percent of the ballpark’s electrical needs, and many other features.

The Cedar Solution: As is the case with many of the best ballparks, wood would be an important building and finishing material for CHS Field. The Field’s owners initially considered other wood species, but consultation with the WRCLA prompted them to conclude that the warmth of WRC would be most appropriate due to its tonal properties. Also, although not forested in Minnesota, cedar is common to the region and has a local feel to which the community can more easily relate.

Based on this input, and in keeping with a design motif taking visual clues from the surrounding Lowertown warehouses, WRC was used by architect Julie Snow for many interior and exterior purposes. Early on, it was decided that cedar would be used as cladding on the underside of CHS Field’s suites, club, and press box, which were designed to seemingly float above the concourse on a light steel frame. In this regard, the wood would be the central exterior visual feature. Additionally, as fans enter the ballpark, they would be greeted by a WRC soffit contrasted by black pillars—very similar in style to neighborhood commercial spaces.

The wood as a design element proved to be stunning, especially at night, when a lot of indirect lighting gives the grandstand concourse a warm ambiance. WRC also became a visual showcase in the prestigious Securian Club, where it lines the ceiling, continues without interruption along one wall (as a backsplash for the club’s bar and display rack), and then along the side of the bar itself. A tongue-and-groove profile was deemed to be the best strategy for the exterior, and on interior applications, the cedar is spaced to allow for acoustic control. The architects selected clear cedar for durability and resiliency and were careful in exterior applications to use it only as soffits or ceilings, thus minimizing UV exposure and ensuring its visual integrity for many years to come.

The Results: Not surprisingly, patrons to the new CHS Field cite the WRC elements as the ballpark’s most striking characteristic. It’s one more win for a unique facility that exhibits 21st century environmental values and honors traditions of the past. The project was recognized with an Honors Award from AIA at the national level in 2016. This is AIA’s highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in architecture, interior architecture, and urban design. It was also cited as the Greenest New Stadium of 2015 in the GreenSportsBlog, 2015.

Changing gears a little bit, let’s consider now a different type of exterior treatment for a resort location in Telluride, Colorado.

Telluride Upscale Rustic Resort

About the Project: Building in the resort community of Telluride, Colorado, requires extensive effort on the part of developers to ensure that everything from design to materials meet the standards of regional historical and architectural review committees. A three-story, 3,500-square-foot resort home completed by builder Eric Trommer was no exception. Fortunately for Trommer and his architect Matthew Allen, their decision early on to use WRC extensively in the construction process ensured that the resulting building not only achieved regulatory approval, but its visual appeal also blended perfectly with Telluride’s rustic and distinctly upscale ambiance.

The Design: In order to capitalize on Telluride’s reemergence as a place where affluent people converge, Trommer wanted his $4.5-million development to stand out. With a narrow lot of only 30 feet wide, Architect Allen designed a luxury residential unit of five bedrooms and five bathrooms to be spread throughout three levels. “This was a rethinking of an earlier design that just didn’t work in these narrow confines, and while Eric and I were pleased with the redesign, I still wanted to minimize the feeling of mass and also incorporate some of the best visual elements evident in nearby units,” he says.

The Cedar Solution: The partners were impressed by the clear cedar exterior elements of many homes in the region, and Allen was inspired to go a step further by designing the upper exterior portion of his project to be clad in clear cedar siding and the bottom portion to be clad in black-stained knotty cedar. One popular option for creating a black appearance is called Shou Sugi Ban, which is essentially an artfully crafted charring of the wood. While it has a permanent black finish that also provides some texture, it isn’t suitable for all locations since it can rub off onto anything, or anyone, who comes in contact with it. It is also a treatment that is only available from a limited number of suppliers; otherwise it needs to be done in the field, which can produce less predictable results. The greater availability of stains and the option of factory finishing proved to be a better option for this project.

Allen, who has incorporated cedar into his building designs for the past three decades and loves the material so much that his own home as well as his office is 100 percent clad in the wood, also decided to use WRC for accents, angle braces, soffits under the decks, and window trim. As the design progressed, so too did the specifics of the siding: vertically installed 1-by-10, tongue-and-groove, clear, smooth-faced cedar would comprise the upper portion of the house, while vertically installed 1-by-10, tongue-and-groove, textured, kiln-dried select knotty (appropriately stained) would dominate the bottom portion.

Allen says, “This did several things: it established a beautiful visual contrast, and also lessened the appearance of mass. Additionally, black-stained cedar on the bottom would hide moisture stains caused by the 9-foot snow drifts that typically pile up against buildings in this neck of the woods during winter.”

The Construction: Trommer ordered his cedar through his local supplier who sourced the material through Denver to a British Columbia-based mill to provide the goods. Both the mill and the supplier are a member and a Certified Cedar Distributor respectively of the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association (WRCLA). “The wood, which took 60 days to deliver, was stained in Denver as opposed to stained on-site for superior quality,” Trommer says. “It was a most efficient process overall, and the only mistake we made was ordering too little—so we had to wait another 60 days for a second supply of wood.”

As for installation, Trommer calls working with WRC “downright fun. It was lightweight and easy to cut, no effort at all putting up; we used color fasteners for invisibility and attached the facing into the building.”

The Results: Trommer’s experience with WRC is such that he wants to use the wood again in future projects. As for long-time cedar lover, he says, “I’m passionate about using cedar in all my projects for its dimensional stability, longevity, and the special, beautiful glow it imparts that is unique amongst all woods. The suppliers on this project really came through and helped us create a residence that stands out in Telluride—which is no easy feat.”

Cedar Interiors

Turning from cedar exteriors, let’s take a closer look at the many ways that cedar is used for beautifully designed interiors. We have already noted that as a wood product, WRC can be milled, shaped, and finished in many different profiles with many different design options. All of those features apply to interior uses too, not just exterior treatments. Hence, cedar can be quite versatile in terms of design options, allowing it to be used for interior coverings for walls and ceilings to create striking interiors that exude the warmth and the beauty of the wood. Similarly, it can be used for interior features, trim, and other creative or even artistic applications. The choices of finish are all available for interior uses too, but where it is protected from the elements, its color will not change as it does naturally when exposed to the weather. That means clear finishes and light stains may be all that is needed to bring out the grain and character of the wood for an extended period of time.

Recognizing that there are many interior options, we will take a look at two notable projects with two very different interior design styles. The first is a very contemporary interior for a public park building, and the second is a more traditional look for a museum.

Maple Grove Park Warming House & Pergola

About the Project: When its development was completed in September of 2015, Central Park of Maple Grove, Minnesota, provided Maple Grove’s evolving downtown civic, retail, and residential core with a lush, energized urban green space that builds upon an extensive pedestrian trail system and chain of lakes. Almost immediately, the park generated national media attention as an iconic regional destination with 40 acres of recreational amenities, including a 2.5-acre event lawn, formal gardens, custom playground, and 25,000-square-foot ice skating loop—the first of its kind in Minnesota.

Capping all of this is a spectacular pavilion/warming house with concessions as well as an adjacent pergola, the structures of which fulfill the mandate of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board to achieve a lodge aesthetic combined with a more contemporary take on the warming house function. U+B Architecture & Design, architect for the project, used WRC predominantly throughout this project to unite these two disparate aesthetics as well as for its resilient properties in this unique outdoor setting.

The Design: U+B had to fulfill the needs of multiple stakeholders while working on Maple Grove Central Park, including those who wanted traditional looking structures and those seeking a contemporary take. To enhance walkability throughout the park, U+B had to create views that would connect visitors throughout the sprawling site with architectural components designed to address park programming. The overall design essentially creates a community of buildings, each serving a specific function while maintaining its individual identity and yet united by a common palette of materials.

Edie Sebesta, senior associate at U+B, points out that to a degree, the architecture was inspired by the landscape of Maple Grove, which had traditionally been a farming community. Accordingly, the architects’ vision of the park’s structures would manifest itself in features such as steeply pitched roofs and the extensive use of wood. Canopies would play a vital role in connecting buildings to the rest of the site and providing gathering spaces for the public. Early on, it was decided that WRC would be a primary building and finishing material, and this facilitated the choice of complementary materials such as dark masonry and Alabama limestone as well as metal roofing of the type typically used in barns.

The Cedar Solution: U+B’s architects have worked with cedar many times on past projects, and the wood was a logical choice for a public space that would see year-round visitations. Plus, given Minnesota’s harsh winters, Central Park buildings required a key material that would not only endure the elements but also take on an intriguing patina as it aged. Sebesta explains that WRC bridged the gap between tradition and modernism that the stakeholders were seeking. For example, its use as a ceiling material in public spaces imparted the warmth associated with traditionalism and still allowed the architects to create clean, minimalist spaces and forms. Tongue-and-groove cedar as a canopy underlining united these structures and connected the interiors with the exterior.

The primary space of the warming house features an interior cedar ceiling, each panel of which was finished off-site and then installed with a clip system that accommodated felt strips for acoustic control. The cladding also served to conceal the building’s mechanical systems. Additionally, U+B took the opportunity to clad two very large barn doors and a bifold door that open and close the service counters with the same clear cedar. In order to preserve and enhance the warmth of the material, U+B used a semitransparent oil-based stain, factory applied, that brings consistency to the look of the cedar across the range of light to darker cedar while still showcasing the natural beauty of the wood grain. The architects also specified a UV-protective topcoat to ensure the tone would remain consistent and warm, even as the buildings ages.

The Results: WRC was warmly embraced by the architects and all of Central Park’s stakeholders, and it has helped this public amenity become a true destination for Maple Grove residents. Ernie Sebesta, who visits the park regularly, notes that visitors “appreciate the warmth of the material, and it’s almost a subliminal effect, just like a roaring fireplace attracts people in a cold room. WRC was the perfect type of wood for this unique project.”

Scottsdale’s Museum of the West: Western Spirit

About this Project: Architect Studio Ma of Phoenix used this project to answer the age-old question: what happens when Old West meets contemporary design? This 38,279-square-foot, two-story Scottsdale museum features an outdoor courtyard, gift shop, interpretive spaces, galleries for permanent and traveling exhibitions, and a multiuse space for gatherings and audiovisual presentations. Expertly combining modern forms with traditional materials, the stunning venue has garnered a lot of positive attention from both visitors and architecture aficionados alike since it opened its doors in Scottsdale’s historical and increasingly hip downtown hub. “The museum is not only a leading attraction for regional culture, but it has also been applauded as an iconic building and a catalyst for an urban community,” says Studio Ma Principal Christina Moss.

The Design: As part of the interior’s textured and tactile palette, Studio Ma opted to use WRC extensively throughout, including all entry doors to the reception, ticketing area, and courtyard, the 10-foot-high barn door, and wall paneling outside the elevator, galleries, and other spaces. Cedar siding also appears at the high ceilings above the stairs, low ceilings at galleries and the museum store, interior doors in public spaces, wall base, and interior and exterior signage. “It is an essential and impactful building material for this composition,” says Studio Ma Principal Christopher Alt. For these applications, Alt primarily specified a knotty WRC. As he explains, this cost-effective grade of cedar offered the non-profit museum project great value as well as several other benefits.

The Results: “In addition to its wonderful smell, WRC’s knotty appearance and board-constructed paneling complemented the rough-formed concrete and the oxidized steel,” Alt says. “It really stood up to the others. Also the material helped us recall some of the construction methods for fences and housing in the West, with their various-sized boards and earthy appearance. Last, we knew the naturally finished and durable wood species would retain its character, coloration, and shape for a long time.”

Renovation and Retrofit Projects with Cedar

Most architects are involved in renovation projects that can include alterations, renovations, additions, or similar scopes of work. Sometimes, existing buildings need an update because of a new use, a change of occupancy, a new owner, or just to overcome outdated appearance or functionality. Regardless of the motivation, the opportunity remains to create a renovated building that has its own design statement, improves its sustainability, and functions better in accordance with the needs of the building owners and users.

In that context, cedar is an ideal material for renovation and retrofit projects. It is lightweight, versatile, and brings all of the same attributes to renovations as it does to new construction projects. Most appropriately, it is easy to cut and shape to fit existing conditions, making for less waste and more economy. It is also very easy to customize the finish to blend with or complement existing finishes that may remain either on the interior or exterior of the building.

A great example of how this can all come together on a renovation project is detailed in a restaurant project in San Diego.

Station Tavern Restoration Project

About the Project: Finished in September of 2009 after two years of restoration, Station Tavern & Burgers is an open-air, modern beer garden located in the heart of San Diego’s South Park, which itself has transformed from a shabby historic village into a hip, urban neighborhood. With its huge awning and communal picnic table-style dining that conceals a small and cozy interior, Station Tavern imparts a laid-back atmosphere. The establishment is kid friendly and dogs are also welcome—which is entirely in keeping with the past use of this property as a public trolley stop.

While much of the establishment’s success goes to acclaimed San Diego architect Lloyd Russell and Mario Quintero Construction, the use of WRC as a cost-efficient material to augment the structure’s other wood components also played a significant role in the restoration.

The Design: At the request of South Park businessman and pub owner Sam Chammas, Lloyd Russell designed Station Tavern to be as open air as possible in order to make it seem like an organic extension of the South Park neighborhood. The site was originally a trolley easement and station for San Diego’s No. 2 line from 1929–1948. The old line cut diagonally across the parcel of land, and subsequently a triangular-shaped building was constructed on the property. By the time Russell was retained to restore the property, that building had become what he refers to as “an old dive bar, Snippy’s Tavern, which operated from 1950 to 2003; it had no windows and was covered in pink stucco.”

Chammas and Russell sought a contemporary, sophisticated, but not expensive look that would fit in with an older, established community—a look that would appeal to the increasingly sophisticated younger population in the neighborhood. The way to achieve this came about when the stucco was pulled off the building and the architect discovered redwood siding underneath that had blackened with age. He recalls, “To us, the wood was the human element of the building and the black was the modern component, so we saved as much of it as we could before demolishing the structure.”

Also found during the demolition was a giant wooden sign behind some utility boxes; without a clear idea of what it would eventually be used for, Russell stored the sign for a year—another example of how this project was very much a journey of discovery concurrent to the new establishment being rendered on paper (the sign was eventually framed with steel and used as the tavern’s main entrance door).

The tavern was entirely rebuilt within the same small (600-square-foot) footprint and height, the only changes of note being the addition of windows and trellises as well as a wooden tower housing a kitchen. The design creatively incorporates the history of the San Diego electric streetcars thanks to an outdoor patio area similar to a train platform and an outdoor children’s play area featuring a large wooden trolley.

The interior of Station Tavern was designed by San Diego boat-builder-turned-furniture-maker Pat Wilkening, founder of Red Craft Custom Design, who milled the bar top, stools, tables, and chairs from 100-year-old 2-by-4s reclaimed from Snippy’s. For greater sustainability, Russell also designed the roof of the tavern’s tower to accommodate solar panels that would generate 30 kilowatts of energy daily, or about 30 percent of the establishment’s electrical consumption.

The Cedar Solution: Although Russell and his restoration colleagues saved as much blackened redwood siding as possible from the original structure, more siding was required to complete the property’s metamorphosis into Station Tavern. For Russell, it was a matter of making one of two choices: to source more redwood or go with WRC. “I had incorporated WRC into designs for past projects and was very impressed by its beauty and durability, but for this particular project, its use would be a matter of practicality: as it happened, clear cedar was available to us at an attractive price point, so we went with it.”

Russell admits that despite his admiration for the wood, Station Tavern represented “tipping my toes into the world of WRC, and fortunately I grew more knowledgeable about sourcing and specs as the project evolved.” Ultimately, the clear cedar was stained black and used for siding to augment the redwood as well as for the trellises; clear cedar was used for window trim; and Douglas-fir was used for other woods elements.

Although WRC was used mainly for utilitarian purposes as well as for decorative touches at Station Tavern & Burgers, the project is significant in that Russell is a supporter of the WRCLA. “And since the completion of Station Tavern, I’ve used WRC for a single-family residence as well as two multifamily projects,” he adds.

The Results: Station Tavern has been credited for helping to upgrade conditions in South Park, and as a restoration project, it has won several awards, including the Grand Orchid Award for architecture by the San Diego Architectural Foundation in 2010 and Best Restaurant for Hipster Parents in San Diego Magazine.

Conclusion

The materials used to finish the exterior and interior of a commercial or institutional building, whether newly constructed or renovated, need to meet a variety of demands from design professionals, construction contractors, building owners, and users. WRC is a wood choice that has been shown to meet many, if not all of those demands for the exterior and interior of new and renovation projects for all types of commercial, institutional, and multifamily buildings. It benefits from a well-developed industry with the experience of many industry professionals and an international trade association that can provide technical support. Using these resources to understand the attributes, characteristics, and details of using cedar in nonresidential buildings can help architects create designs of virtually any style. Overall, WRC is a sustainable material of choice on projects of all building types and in virtually any location around the world.

Peter J. Arsenault, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP, is a nationally known architect, consultant, continuing education presenter, and prolific author advancing building performance through better design. www.pjaarch.com, www.linkedin.com/in/pjaarch