Fay Jones School Dedicates Anthony Timberlands Center on U of A Campus

The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, dedicated its Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation in a ceremony on Friday, Aug. 29. This new applied research facility centered on Arkansas timber and wood products offers U of A students hands-on experience with innovative design and construction materials, and serves as a research and development laboratory for construction technologies and affordable housing for the state and region. 

The center, the latest addition to the university’s Art and Design District, is designed by Grafton Architects of Dublin, Ireland, in association with Modus Studio of Fayetteville and landscape architects Ground Control of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. This is the first mass timber building and the first United States project for Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, the 2020 Pritzker Prize-winning co-founders of Grafton Architects. 

More than 300 people — including faculty, staff, students, design team members, design and construction industry representatives, elected officials, benefactors, alumni and friends — gathered to celebrate the completion of construction and the opening of the center.  

The Anthony Timberlands Center is part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, the state’s only school of architecture and design. Led by Dean Peter MacKeith, the school undertook this visionary building initiative, working with partnerships in agriculture, industry, government, corporate, non-profit and individual support from across the state of Arkansas. Directly supporting the university’s land-grant mission, this new facility is home to the Fay Jones School’s timber and wood initiatives, including a new integrated wood design graduate degree program and collaborative efforts with partners in the state's forest industries. It also houses the school’s design-build program and digital fabrication laboratory, while supporting and expanding the school’s initiatives in wood-centered affordable housing. 

“The Anthony Timberlands Center embodies our land-grant mission by linking classroom learning, applied research and industry together to serve Arkansas,” said Chancellor Charles Robinson. “By preparing our students to be leaders in sustainable construction, fostering innovation in affordable housing and supporting a timber industry that has long been a cornerstone of Arkansas’ economy, the center will strengthen the university while building a brighter future for our state.”  

“The Anthony Timberlands Center bolsters the university’s strong commitment to applied research and innovation that directly serves communities in Arkansas,” said Dean Peter MacKeith. “The center teaches students the entire lifecycle of design and construction in real time, supporting ongoing education in critical issues such as affordable housing and sustainability, wood product development, and building technology. The project embodies the design excellence for which the school, university and region are known, but also demonstrates commitment to the greater environmental and economic good of the state, especially to those citizens and enterprises in the forested regions.”  

The center’s structure and program build upon the commitment of the Fay Jones School and the university to the state and region’s emerging timber economy and to the reemergence of a “forest-centered culture” by supporting teaching, applied research and service work of the school’s faculty and students. The center’s work is focused on innovative materials and products applied research and development, with a particular focus on Arkansas-sourced timber and wood.  

“The dedication of the Anthony Timberlands Center is a major step forward for the U of A and the state of Arkansas and our standing as world leaders in timber research and building technology,” said Margaret Sova McCabe, vice chancellor for research and innovation. “Every detail of this remarkable facility was designed to empower our faculty and students to advance innovative applications for timber, address pressing issues such as housing affordability, and deliver positive impact to Arkansas citizens and our economy.” 

A primarily mass timber building, the 44,763-square-foot Anthony Timberlands Center demonstrates mass timber and wood product construction to the fullest extent possible, sourced significantly from Arkansas forest and mills. It houses classrooms, studios, seminar and conference spaces, and a flexible lecture hall and gallery space, atop a double-height, state-of-the-art, 11,000-square-foot fabrication and design-build shop floor. 

“Our design envisions the new building as a ‘Story Book of Timber,’ where timber would be both the structural bones and the enclosing skin,” said Yvonne Farrell. “Responding to the local climate, we proposed a canopy of light and air, a cascading roof with glulam rainwater gutters, covering the open-air yard, the fabrication shop, and connecting all the teaching spaces, where upper galleries form educational and social vantage points.” 

With a premium placed on using Arkansas-sourced timber products, Grafton developed the most appropriate, inventive and economic structural solutions, resulting in a structural frame of engineered wood, complemented with the use of other wood species in specific and appropriate deployment, including southern yellow pine, white oak, black locust, red cedar, and bois d’arc.  

From the upper-level studio spaces to the ground-level fabrication shop, the building reflects the nature of contemporary practice in which ideas are explored in one space and tested through active making and prototyping in another. Design students will have access to the most advanced digital tools — robotics, CNC equipment, 3D printing, plasma cutting — as well as traditional tools found in robust wood, metal and casting laboratories.   

Crafted for This Place, of This Place  

Grafton Architects and Modus Studio considered Arkansas’ dynamic and variable climate, orienting and locating the glazing — or windows — to minimize the intensity of the sunlight and shaping the roof profile and geometry to respond to the prevailing southwesterly winds and intense rainfalls. The consequent cascading roof protects the structure and spaces beneath it and is formed by inclined cross-laminated timber (CLT) roof panels, made of Arkansas-sourced southern yellow pine, that span between large, glue-laminated “gutter-beams” that also collect the abundant rainwater. This roof encloses a large fabrication shop and, as it expands upwards, fosters a connection via an atrium to the teaching spaces in the upper levels of the building and simultaneously outward to the landscape beyond the building. Fabrication is the heart of this facility, celebrating the act of making, of construction, and of craft within the education of architects and designers, and within the larger academic world of the university. 

Educationally, Grafton was intrigued by how students of different disciplines would overlap within the newly established Art and Design District, and how they would meet and share ideas. Integral to the design was creating a shared landscape within the new urban block that not only addresses the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation but would also serve to connect to both the Studio and Design Center and the forthcoming Gallery and Foundations Building.  

Anthony’s Way, the shady, open-ended courtyard to the west of the center, celebrates the climate of Arkansas and the ecology of the Ouachita Mountains nearby. It is planted with Loblolly pine trees, which are the primary species harvested by Arkansas’ forest industry. The regenerative bioswale that runs centrally along the length of the courtyard is fed rainwater from the center’s large roof gutters. The juxtaposition of living trees and the wood constituting the center forms an important part of the educational philosophy of the building, linking the natural with the man-made. Here, the wood material expresses its two forms — as part of nature, slowly growing alongside the building, while also telling the story of its second life, as the building itself. 

Timber Innovations and Spaces for Making 

The execution of this complex mass timber project was made possible through a strong design collaboration between Grafton Architects and Modus Studio. Known for its leadership in mass timber design and sustainable construction, Modus brings deep regional knowledge and technical expertise to the project, along with the devotion of this Fay Jones School alumni-led practice. This is the seventh mass timber project for Modus; others include Adohi Hall, completed in 2019 on the U of A campus.  

Grafton’s full partnership with Modus, along with a robust team of consultants and collaborators, has produced a vernacular-driven design clad in regionally appropriate materials including thermally modified southern yellow pine and eastern red cedar and metal panels, all resting on stunning mass timber bones. 

“Mass timber is an increasingly utilized design and construction approach, but this project’s ambitions were to be innovative and inspiring on many levels,” said Chris Baribeau, AIA, principal at Modus Studio. “We worked hand in hand with Grafton to bridge international design with regional application to ensure the design intent was achieved.”  

A Visionary Lead Gift 

A lead naming gift from John Ed and Isabel Anthony, on behalf of the seven-generation family-led Anthony Timberlands Inc. — the state’s largest privately owned timberlands and wood products company — provided invaluable support, anchoring the project and aligning its ambitions and potentials with their longstanding support of the state’s timber industry, design culture, and vital mill-centered communities. Matching contributions from the university, along with federal grant funds, state support, foundation contributions, and numerous individuals, underscore the appeal of the project across a broad range of stakeholders, and emphasize Arkansas-sourced timber innovation to benefit the local environment and economy. This bold investment in the vibrancy of Arkansas ensures that place-centered design education thrives and is a supportive framework for students. These gifts are the foundation of a building that is attentive to the use of local renewable materials and their innovative use in architecture and design, demonstrating a rooted commitment to the benefit of the state through design engagement, education and making.  

About Grafton Architects: Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara co-founded Grafton Architects in 1978 having graduated from University College Dublin in 1974. They are Fellows of the RIAI, International Honorary Fellows of the RIBA, and elected members of Aosdána, the eminent Irish Art organization. Teaching at the School of Architecture at University College Dublin from 1976 to 2002, they were appointed Adjunct Professors at UCD in 2015. They have been Visiting Professors at EPFL, Lausanne from 2010 – 2011. They held the Kenzo Tange Chair at GSD Harvard in 2010 and the Louis Kahn chair at Yale in the Autumn of 2011. Currently, they are Professors at the Accademia di Archittettura, Mendrisio, Switzerland. In 2018, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara were the Curators of the Venice Architecture Biennale. Their manifesto: Freespace was the title of the Biennale. McNamara and Farrell were selected as the 2020 Pritzker Prize Laureates, the award that is known internationally as architecture’s highest honor. 

About Modus Studio: Founded in 2008 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Modus Studio is an award-winning architecture firm led by principals Chris Baribeau, FAIA, Josh Siebert, Assoc. AIA, and Jason Wright, Assoc. AIA. Rooted in the belief that architecture can be a powerful tool for positive change, the firm is known for its honest material expression, sustainable practices, and deep engagement with community and place. Modus Studio’s portfolio spans educational, civic, residential, and commercial projects, consistently demonstrating a thoughtful approach to regional identity and environmental stewardship. In addition to professional practice, the studio maintains strong ties to academia through teaching, mentorship, and collaboration with the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. Modus’ work has been widely recognized, including multiple AIA Honor Awards and national publications, and the studio continues to shape the built environment with intention, craft and care.  

About the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design: The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas houses undergraduate professional design programs of architecture, landscape architecture and interior architecture and design together with a liberal studies program. The school also offers a Master of Design Studies, with concentrations in health and wellness design, resiliency design, integrated wood design, and retail and hospitality design. The DesignIntelligence 2019 School Rankings Survey listed the school among the most hired from architecture, landscape architecture and interior design schools, ranking 10th, 14th and eighth, respectively, as well as 28th among most admired architecture schools. 

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $3 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.