The conversation around mass timber in institutional construction has matured beyond "should we?" into "how?" At @evergreencharterschool_ in Hempstead, NY — one of the first large-scale hybrid mass timber K-12 schools on the East Coast — the answer is a hybrid system that pairs engineered timber with structural steel and refuses to ask either material to do the other's work.
A choosing-by-advantages process weighed four structural systems — conventional steel-and-concrete, hybrid steel-and-CLT, Glulam post-and-beam, CLT bearing-wall — against cost-neutrality, span, constructability, and the experience of working under a wood ceiling. The hybrid won not on enthusiasm for the material but on the evidence: steel held the long spans and the lateral story; CLT delivered the exposed wood the classrooms required.
The outcome the field has been waiting for: embodied carbon at approximately 331 kgCO2e/m² — roughly 35% below the conventional baseline — at the same construction cost. No incremental capital premium attached to the carbon reduction. Replicable, defensible, and on budget.
The broader implications — for institutional procurement, for embodied-carbon thresholds, for replication beyond K-12 — are the substance of a longer conversation continuing on May 13 at "Steel and Wood Together? Really? How Mass Timber Turns This Combination Into a Winning Strategy," an event sponsored by the Steel Institute of New York with Martin Hopp @mhaplatform , Efe Karanci @thorntontomasetti , and subject-matter expert John Hand @arupamericas .
#MartinHopp #EastCoast #CLT #Hempstead #EducationArchitecture #K12School #K12Design #MartinHoppArchitect #MassTimber #HybridMassTimber #SustainableDesign #EvergreenCharterSchool #EmbodiedCarbon #Architecture #Glulam #ArchitecturalRecord #NewYork
Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming NYC Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani, First Deputy Commissioner Gus Sirakis, Keith Wen, and the DOB team to visit Evergreen Charter School (thanks for hosting us).
For nearly three hours we walked through the building and discussed the future of mass timber construction in New York City. What made the visit meaningful was not only seeing the building itself, but the conversation around what it represents.
Evergreen shows that it is possible to build healthy, inspiring environments for students and communities while also advancing lower-carbon construction and cost-effective delivery.
Mass timber is still new to New York, but the potential is enormous.
It can help deliver better schools, housing, and workplaces—spaces that support wellbeing while meeting the urgent need for more sustainable construction.
We are grateful to Commissioner Tigani and the DOB team for taking the time to engage deeply with the project and the broader questions it raises.
Projects like Evergreen only happen when clients, architects, educators, engineers, contractors, and public agencies work together around a shared belief:
Everyone deserves dignified, healthy and uplifting spaces—no matter where they live or learn.
#MassTimber #SustainableConstruction #HealthyBuildings #K12schools #NYCDOB #EvergreenCharterSchool #EducationalBuildings
Evergreen Charter School
Hempstead, Long Island, NY
Building with mass timber required a cost competitive structural solution appropriate for a standard charter-school budget. Working with a client committed to mass timber within strict financial constraints, the project uses a hybrid mass timber and steel system, with CLT decks supported by steel columns and beams, designed to match the cost, schedule, and performance of conventional construction.
The system was developed around the material’s inherent strengths, long spans, high strength-to-weight ratio, and prefabrication, allowing the structure to remain exposed as the finished interior surface. This reduced secondary finishes, simplified coordination, improved durability, and lowered embodied carbon while supporting flexible learning spaces.
Photography by Frank Oudeman @frankoudeman
#martinhopparchitect #masstimber #schooldesign #communityarchitecture #educationarchitecture #participatorydesign #schoolascommunity #participatorydesign #socialinfrastructure #architectureandcommunity #schooldesign
Evergreen Charter School
Hempstead, Long Island, NY
Evergreen Charter School was shaped through close collaboration with educators, students, and the local community, with flexibility built into the project from the outset. While supporting daily learning, the building is designed to operate as a community resource beyond school hours.
Multipurpose spaces open in the evenings and on weekends to host athletic, educational, and cultural programs, extending the school’s role beyond education alone. These shared facilities help address long-standing gaps in health, nutrition, and social infrastructure in Hempstead. Evergreen functions as shared civic space, adaptable over time to the needs of both the institution and its neighborhood.
Photography by Frank Oudeman @frankoudeman
#martinhopparchitect #schooldesign #communityarchitecture #educationarchitecture #gymarchitecture #publicinteriors #architecturalspace #institutionaldesign #architectureandstructure #sportsarchitecture
Evergreen Charter School
Hempstead, Long Island, NY
The roof at Evergreen Charter School is designed as working infrastructure rather than leftover surface. On a dense site surrounded by traffic, noise, and limited open space, a mass timber structure supports a rooftop soccer field and café, creating protected outdoor space above the street and extending the school's program vertically.
A timber pergola carries the solar array, which generates roughly 44% of the building’s electricity while shading the roof below. Together, the structure supports recreation, energy production, and daily school life in the middle of a challenging urban environment.
Photography by Frank Oudeman @frankoudeman
#martinhopparchitect #masstimber #schooldesign #sustainabledesign #rooftoparchitecture #solararchitecture #renewableenergy #climateconsciousdesign #schooldesign #architecturalinnovation #sportsarchitecture
Evergreen Charter School
Hempstead, Long Island, NY
Learning spaces at Evergreen Charter School were designed around a simple premise: a healthy environment supports better learning. Developed through close collaboration with teachers, students, and school leadership, these spaces prioritize daylight, acoustic comfort, air quality, and calm proportion.
Oriented to maximize glare-free daylight and views, exposed mass timber remains visible throughout the learning environments, making the building itself a teaching tool about material and environmental performance. Clean air, low toxicity materials, and controlled acoustics support focus, well-being, and long term health.
Photography by Frank Oudeman @frankoudeman
#martinhopparchitect #masstimber #schooldesign #learningenvironments #classroomdesign #educationarchitecture #schoolinteriors #architectureandeducation #woodenarchitecture
Evergreen Charter School
Hempstead, Long Island, NY
Evergreen Charter School was designed as a high-performance, low-carbon building where passive and active strategies work together to reduce energy demand. The envelope exceeds energy code requirements by more than 20%, using orientation, deep exterior shading, and calibrated glazing to limit heat gain while maintaining consistent daylight and comfort.
A rooftop photovoltaic pergola generates 44% of the building’s electricity, contributing to a 62% reduction in Energy Use Intensity compared to baseline and positioning the school for long-term net-zero operation. Ecological strategies extend beyond the building, transforming a former greyfield into a permeable landscape that manages 100% of stormwater on site through green roofs, rain gardens, and native planting.
Photography by Frank Oudeman @frankoudeman
#martinhopparchitect #masstimber #schooldesign #highperformancebuilding #leed #greenbuilding #buildingenvelope #passivedesign #sustainabledesign #climateadaptive #schooldesign #woodenarchitecture #healthybuilding
Evergreen Charter School
Hempstead, Long Island, NY
Evergreen Charter School is a five story, 89,000 square foot K–12 school and one of the first mass timber schools on the East Coast. Located in Hempstead, the project is a model for how sustainable, community-oriented design excellence is possible even in the nation’s most marginalized communities.
Designed by Martin Hopp Architect, the building is constructed using a hybrid CLT and steel structural system and was designed to LEED Platinum and Healthy Building standards. Daylight-filled learning spaces, exposed mass timber, and biophilic strategies make the building itself part of the educational experience. At night and on weekends, Evergreen operates as a community center, creating a much-needed civic space in a neighborhood where average incomes are 57% below the national average.
Photography by Frank Oudeman @frankoudeman
#martinhopparchitect #masstimber #schooldesign #evergreencharterschool #educationarchitecture #schoolarchitecture #civicarchitecture #archilovers #wooddesign #futureschools #learningspaces #woodenarchitecture
Martin Hopp Architect has completed Evergreen Charter School, a five-story, 85,000 SF K–12 school in Hempstead, New York, one of the first mass timber school projects of its kind on the East Coast.
Photography by Frank Oudeman @frankoudeman
#martinhopparchitect #masstimber #schoolarchitecture #k12design #sustainablearchitecture #publicarchitecture #sustainablearchitecture #woodarchitecture #educationarchitecture
The NY Mass Timber Pavilion is built to move.
Over the course of a year, it will travel to twelve public sites across New York State — from the Elmwood-Bidwell Market in Buffalo to the Brooklyn Navy Yard — appearing in markets, plazas, campuses, and waterfronts. Each stop allows communities across the state to encounter New York–grown timber firsthand.
Each location turns the pavilion into a temporary civic space and a live demonstration of what a local mass timber supply chain can make possible. By moving from place to place, it builds awareness, invites conversation, and brings the idea of statewide mass timber closer to the public realm.
#martinhopparchitect #mhaplatform #masstimber #newyorkstate #sustainableconstruction #lowcarbondesign #embodiedcarbon #masstimberarchitecture #circularbuilding #architecturalinnovation #buildinnewyork #climateforwarddesign
The NY Mass Timber Pavilion is designed as an inviting space within the public realm — a small architectural intervention that integrates into markets, plazas, and community gathering points. Its form creates a sheltered threshold where people can gather and engage with the material directly.
By placing New York–grown timber in everyday settings, the pavilion makes the material visible long before it appears in larger buildings, bringing the idea of a local mass timber supply chain into public life.
#martinhopparchitect #mhaplatform #masstimber #newyorkstate #sustainableconstruction #lowcarbondesign #embodiedcarbon #masstimberarchitecture #circularbuilding #architecturalinnovation #buildinnewyork #climateforwarddesign
Inside the pavilion, visitors will find a compact exhibition explaining how mass timber works, from forest management and milling to fabrication, assembly, and reuse.
The interior is intentionally simple: exposed wood surfaces, modular joinery, and built-in displays that tell the story of a future New York timber supply chain.
It turns a small space into an educational environment, showing the process behind the material and the possibilities it unlocks.
#martinhopparchitect #mhaplatform #masstimber #newyorkstate #sustainableconstruction #lowcarbondesign #embodiedcarbon #masstimberarchitecture #circularbuilding #architecturalinnovation #buildinnewyork #climateforwarddesign
