The Central Eastside Industrial District is a neighborhood poised to transform its character and vibrancy. Designed to attract creators in technology and design-based professions, Skylight is our refined rendition of the modern office landscape that captures and elevates the essence of the surrounding neighborhood while setting new, distinguished standards for future developments. Creative offices tend to attract discerning and thoughtful people interested in raw, edgy environments, forward-thinking design, and versatile open spaces. Here, structural materials achieve this goal both aesthetically and functionally. Exposed joints and architectural connections lead to a visually active, energetic interior that intertwines warm timbers with cool steel and concrete elements. A glazed portal reveals the dynamic structure within to pedestrians and passerby.   We designed Skylight as two separate office wings with core and amenity spaces bridging between them like a butterfly. Exposed steel beams with glulam columns weave through the space, creating visual diversity within different sections of the building. While the structural core is concrete and the horizontal structure is a mix of wood trusses and steel, Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) becomes the fabric binding the whole building together. The texture of NLT lends noticeable aesthetic and acoustic benefits to the space, and the simple nature of humble 2x4 boards expresses warmth and humanity within.   Mass timber structures serve functional goals of creative office design as well. Less attractive parts and pieces of typical office systems can be neatly tucked away beneath a raised floor, maximizing exposure to the natural wood and creating a more flexible layout for existing and future tenants of the space. Skylight used this method to reduce layout obstructions while maximizing versatility through 35’-40' spans and only a single row of columns breaking up a 70’-80' floor plates. This was a literal stretch from traditional mass timber 20’-25' grids. To achieve it, our team designed an innovative, double glulam truss to meet the long spans, while maintaining the high, open, floor-to-floor spaces.