Reclaimed Timber Building Projects

Google salvaged approximately 119,000 board feet of old-growth timber from Hangar 3 at Moffett Federal Airfield, turning reclaimed timber into the centerpiece of a demolition that would typically send historic wood to a landfill. Built in 1943 from materials likely sourced from Pacific Northwest forests, the 1,000-foot structure was systematically disassembled with high-reach excavators after engineering assessments confirmed it could not be preserved intact.

After consulting wood scientists and structural engineers to assess the salvaged timber's integrity, roughly 66,000 board feet met the standards required for mass timber remanufacturing. Some of the wood will be used in a Google mass timber office prototype in The Dalles, Oregon, returning it to the regional timber economy from which it likely originated decades ago.

Google's project shows how treating old buildings as material banks, rather than waste, can meaningfully reduce the environmental impact of new construction.

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