From Silos to Roof Supports
This article appeared in the August 2006 edition of Building Design and Construction magazine and highlights our history of building projects on the Bethel, NY site.
By Jeff Yoders, Associate Editor – August 1, 2006– Building Design and Construction
Unadilla Laminated Products, a fabricator of custom wooden trusses based in Unadilla, N.Y., originally started as a lumber company in 1892. In 1906 the first wood silo was manufactured by the firm, and in 1909 the Unadilla Silo Company was founded. In 1928, in conjunction with the Borden Chemical Company, Unadilla Silo manufactured what is believed to be the first laminated rafters in America.
The company has been manufacturing roof trusses that feature intricate S bends ever since. When the neighboring town of Bethel, N.Y., needed fabricated trusses for the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, owner Allen Gerry knew who to call.
“I have to give all the credit to our client, who had worked before with the wood fabricator,” said Paul E. Westlake, FAIA, lead architect on the project. “They were incredible to work with. We described the profile we wanted and they gave us every structural form we needed.”
All the buildings at the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival were constructed of mechanically fastened heavy timber, so Westlake liberally specified the glue-laminated trusses and supports Unadilla provided for nearly every building in the Bethel Woods campus to connect them to the history of the site as well as to the rural community.
“It’s definitely not something we do often on the commercial end,” said Mike Dinapoli, project executive for general contractor Suffolk Construction, Boston. “We learned the meaning of the word value on this project, and it didn’t mean less expensive.”
“The beauty and warmth of the natural materials and what they evoked certainly was a motive in using this style of architecture,” Westlake said. “But there was also the implication that using these materials would make the structure timeless because these are natural, sustainable materials.”
For the full article click here.