CONSTRUCTION OF THE SILVER OAK HOSPITALITY BUILDING AND BARREL CHAI
The
Silver Oak Hospitality Building has presented its fair share of challenges.
The main portion of framing in concept was quite simple; however, the realities of commercial construction and engineering along with detailed and demanding design criteria lead to a variety of building conditions and complex geometry. Not one of the six scissor trusses was detailed the same, one would land on a CMU (concrete masonry unit) wall on both sides another would land on a 11x19" steel I beam and a CMU wall, another to steel beam and stud wall, another to steel beam and timber post, and on and on. The accuracy was very demanding on masons, welders, and framers that are unaccustomed to finish trim tolerances.
These massive trusses are built of 12x17 rafters, 10x12 cords and a 12x12 king post, with all traditional joinery they span an impressive 40'.
The truss system creates the ceiling for the tasting room, the VIW (very important wine) room, the conference room and the reception area for the new Silver Oak Cellar campus.
Scale can be deceptive: At above left the lightning bolt notch is 2.5" deep. The joint in total spans 27" joining the principal rafter to the scissor cord at the base of the truss.
These forty foot wide scissor trusses were installed blind, the crane operator was unable to see inside the building over the CMU walls, in order to place these massive timbers on their knife plate connections. In total we moved over 28,000 bd ft of finished timber up onto a top wall plate that began at 22' elevation. This board footage represents approximately 84,000 lbs. The only damage we inflicted in our efforts, was unfortunately a very high profile post at the threshold of the Executive office. Fortunately, this was repairable and all is well.
Once the trusses were placed, ridge beams and purlins were installed with wind braces. Then the 3x5 common rafters installed flat to complete the ceiling build up that is modeled after European tithe barns of the 14th and 15th centuries'.
(Our new structure) (European tithe)
Another challenge we encountered was the raising of the Barrel Chai (storage room for wine casks). This particular task required us to do things a little backwards. We assembled frame outside on the ground and raise it up over the 22' CMU (cinder block) walls that were already constructed. The structure itself is 26 feet square and stands 30' tall. The receiving walls measured 26'-1.5" leaving very little wiggle room.
We first assembled the four hips and king pin. We designed this roof structure as a two way "bow string truss" with crossing 1" steel tie rods. The bow string is created by forcing the rods to bend at the king pin.
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CONFERENCE CENTER AND LIBRARY
IN THE HILLS OF CAZADERO: Take a drive to the north coast of California, and you may find this jewel tucked away in remote Sonoma County. One of the new buildings for Ratna Ling retreat center, the conference center and library is, phase one of three, for Timber Creations. Phase two is a Meditation hall, and phase three consists of four pavilions and a number of walkways that connect the three principal structures of the retreat center.
Local Architect Dale Zumfelde and resident project designer Aja Bula-Richards provided the design and detailing of the structures. Timber Creations brought the timber frame and engineering expertise to the table, assisted by Paul Laudenschlager, CE, PE. The General contracting was provided by Boden Construction of Santa Rosa, CA.
The library consists of 6 hammer beam trusses at 6' on center with a room span of 25'. A single center dormer creates a cozy window seat for reading. The conference hall is a 34' square, with window seat dormers on each of the four sides. These dormers carry to the exterior with full height posts and exterior trusses as shown above right. The conference hall is a clear span structure with 4 principal hips.
LARGE TIMBER: All timber is Douglas fir, with special knot restrictions. The ceiling is Western Red Cedar select tight knot. Our smallest timbers are 5x7 dormer rafters; our largest are the hip beams that create the clear span in the Conference hall. These massive hip beams measure 9x19, and from peak to the overhang tail profile are over 35' long.
To create the hipped
clear span we used 11x13 top plates as a tension ring around the building.
The hips act as top cords of a three-dimensional truss, their outward thrust
restrained by the tension ring, hold the entire roof structure. The joinery
at the peak is all traditional, two hips join with a tongue and fork and
the opposing hips house into the hips and "rooster" beam below. The crossing
tie beams or "roosters" are ship lapped to one another and mortise and tenoned
into the hips. Not only are these beams visually pleasing and structural,
they also house a motorized cable that allows the center chandelier to be
lowered for servicing. Within days of completion this conference room was
used for an international symposium on chronic fatigue syndrome. We are
very proud to be part of a building that will foster communication between
people at this level.
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RAISING THE MEDITATION HALL AT RATNA LING
The Meditation hall raising near Cazadero, California was a sight to behold. Celebration was in the air as it neared completion, and blessings were bestowed upon this sacred dwelling as Leif read the topping out poem and shattered his wine glasses on the foundation below.
In order to raise this incredibly
complex and elaborate structure in a
timely manner, we had two
overlapping crews working so that
at least one crew was always on site
10-hours a day, 7 days a week. As is
common on many of our projects, it
was necessary to employ a variety of
techniques in order to safely and
effectively locate each timber in
place. Sky-Tracks, Scissor lifts, a
boom truck, and a genie lift which
requires copious amounts of elbow
grease, were all used in the raising
of this octagon filled structure.
Local Architect Dale Zumfelde and
resident project designer Aja Bula-
Richards provided the overall design
of the structure and Leif Calvin
turned the concept into a reality by
providing timber and joinery details.
At times throughout the
assembly, the hall began to
take on an almost alien-like
appearance, causing some to
state that it bore resemblance
to a spaceship or a wooden
Stonehenge. 
The design process itself was a
considerable undertaking which called
for intense bouts of brain bending and
cerebral gymnastics. Some serious
geometry was utilized to accomplish an
engineer-able design that could house
three separate and consecutive
octagons all rising in height as they
approached the center keystone piece.
Probably the two most significant
achievements along these lines were:
1) Creating a keystone Pendant that could both handle the compression of the whole building and be beautiful enough to adorn the center of this sacred hall (Carved pendant/ keystone being set into place in photo to the left and constructed in photos below)
The Pendant began with laminating 8-7x13 beams. Next we cut out an octagon and the principal joinery. Then the shaping and sanding could begin to reveal the profile.
2) Developing an
aesthetically unobtrusive
tension tie at the corners
of the building that could
prevent the roof from
spreading out and
collapsing. The weight
of the roof is significant
in and of itself, but the
inclusion of four hips
that measure in at
9”x17”x45’ each called
for some creative
tinkering. From the top
shot, you can see the
huge custom brackets made of ¾” plate set into the beams with 1”x10”
lag screws and connected to the hip with 1” bolts. The bottom
perspective (lower photo) is a seamless confluence of timbers where 9
x17 hips, 11 x 11post, 11 x 13 plates, and 7 x 9 jacks all come together,
with no hint of anything but wood being involved. 
A structural steel
tube was installed in
the pendent to carry
electrical wires and
designed to hold a
3,000 pound
fixture.
The resulting frame is one that we are all very proud of.
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NICKEL AND NICKEL WINERY
Some who take the tour of the Nickel and Nickel winery call it a theme park of barns. Originally the property had a landmark house and two historic barns. The winery wanted to retain the agricultural heritage, so the main fermentation building (above) was designed to look and feel like it had been on the property for years. The rustic handcrafted frame is intended to contrast with the new high-tech stainless steel fermentation equipment and catwalks.
At left is the entry to the main fermentation building; this area is called the Crush shed. The crush shed is the staging area where grapes are received and the processing of wine begins with the crushing of the grapes. The Posts are 12x12s, the rafters are 6x10s on 8' centers and the purlins are 4x4s. We used a traditional Dutch anchor beam with principal plate sections that have swing beams to help with the open span. This crush area is open on three sides and has an open footprint of 48'x32'.
If you look closely you can make out Mark Sowers sitting on the anchor beam to the left. This helps to give scale to this relatively large project and the size of the timbers.
The ridge section pre-assembled in our yard.
Inside the main barn you will find the same Dutch anchor beams however, these anchor beams are made of 34'-16x22 inch beams.
The natural patina on the timbers was key to the design process. We wanted the timber frame to look as natural as possible with an aged look. Finding 40,000 bd ft. of timber with the proper size and a similar patina took more than a year to source. We pulled material from all over the west coast: Vancouver, Canada to San Diego, CA.
CONTACT INFO:
Nickel and Nickel winery
www.nickelandnickel.com
TLA Architects LLP.
www.taylorlombardo.com
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CONSTRUCTION OF NICKEL AND NICKEL SOUTH FERMENTATION BARN 2008:
Big and beautiful custom timber frames generally don't come without obstacles. Much like a fine wine, the winery itself must surpass challenges. As the vine must overcome the weeds, birds, and blights of its immediate surroundings,
so
must the timber frame grow from and through a landscape of perilous metal
impediments, such as mountains of scaffolding and a pin cushion earth bursting
forth with rebar spikes. Not to mention the intangibles that come along
for the ride……permits, engineering, weather etc. 
Our return visit to the Nickel and Nickel wineries had us adding another fermentation building to accommodate an increased production of their single vineyard wines. This new building, the South Fermentation Barn, features a turn of the century framing style, complete with cross bracing of the rafters that was so common to that era.
Integral to their daily tours is the 2 viewing platforms placed on either end of the barn that allow a bird's eye view of the facilities and highlights the contrast of this traditional building style to the modern hi-tech stainless steel holding tanks that will house their delicious juices while they ferment. We look forward to the completion of this project and a time when we can meander and sway our way through both the north and south fermentation barns and admire the buildings and that which resides within.
Walking into either of the two fermentation barns TC has built for Nickel and Nickel you will feel as though you have stepped back in time. These massive structures are based on designs of Early American barns, and the feeling inside is reminiscent of European tithe barns, where a tenth of every crop was given to the church, hence the name tithe, and the need for massive agricultural storage.
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CHATEAU ST. JEAN
Chateau St. Jean makes fine wines from their own Sonoma Valley grapes, near Kenwood, CA. In 1999, they chose Paragon Construction to build them a new wine tasting room. 
Paragon Construction, in turn, challenged us to build 6 custom timber trusses to support the roof of the tasting room.The project architects specifically identified Washington, D.C.’s Library of Congress as the aesthetic target for our trusses.
We responded with several options, and designs to solve the problem of building traditional wood trusses to support a heavy tile roof across a 48’ span, in a high seismic zone. We met the challenge by hiding steel knife plates and 60 one-inch diameter bolts in each truss.
Upon fabrication in our Santa Rosa shop, we coordinated for a local finishing company to apply cabinet-grade finish to our pre-built trusses. We then delivered the trusses to the job site, where we concluded our work by installing the trusses atop the framed walls of the tasting-room-to-be.
We are especially grateful to our sister company, Earthwood homes, of Oregon, for supplying the extraordinarily high-quality timber for this project (timber of this quality is unavailable on the open market). We also thank Earthwood Homes for their assistance throughout installation of the trusses.
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