That Time We Glued Old Boardwalks Into A Trellis #TBT

We can’t believe that it’s been over three years since we glued old pieces of the Coney Island boardwalk into a new trellis for Steinberg-Dietrich Hall at the University of Pennsylvania. The boardwalk, like many others, was made from a hardwood called ipe that is known for exterior durability. When its days underfoot came to an end, it was salvaged and shipped to us to glue into a trellis. We even heard rumors that these boardwalk planks were first installed in the 1930s! 

We didn’t design the trellis and when we received this material into our warehouse, each board was marked with a number indicating its final location in the trellis. Usually, we “build” our glulam members so this made it unusual.


After we glued each piece of the trellis we had to finish it before shipping. Below is a photo from our finishing department.

The University of Pennsylvania has a nice article about the trellis in their newsletter that goes into more detail about this project. It also includes photos of the final project. You can view that here.