Princeton SEAS

Princeton University’s new Environmental Studies (ES) and School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) neighborhood is a landmark higher-education development featuring approximately 190,000 square feet of mass timber across a cohesive four-building academic precinct. Designed by Ennead Architects, the ES and SEAS buildings utilize glulam post-and-beam framing with acoustic Dowel-Laminated Timber (DLT) floor and roof panels, including innovative “necked-down” beam connections that provide direct timber-to-timber bearing while minimizing visible steel and achieving a two-hour fire-resistance rating. At the heart of the neighborhood, Princeton Commons features a striking hybrid timber-steel diagrid with shop-assembled glulam and steel flitch plate assemblies spanning up to 60 feet and integrated chaseways for MEPF systems. As part of an all-electric science and engineering complex focused on reducing embodied carbon, the project demonstrates the architectural and structural potential of mass timber at an exceptional scale. Advanced digital coordination and self-performed mass timber assembly supported the precision and efficiency required to successfully execute one of the country’s most significant academic mass timber projects.