Northwest Arkansas architecture firm receives grant to develop mass timber storm shelters

By Lauren Motley
KNWA Fox 24
March 31, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: US East

©ModusStudio

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Modus Studio has received a $258,000 grant from the Softwood Lumber Board to develop a prototype ICC 500-compliant mass timber storm shelter. The Modus Studio team became interested in creating the storm shelter while working on developing the new Woodland Junior High School for Fayetteville Public Schools. …Jason Wright, a principal with Modus Studio, stated that the grant money will be used to pay for materials and the testing fees by the International Code Council Evaluation Services Group. The money will also help subsidize the time that Modus designers and engineers put into the project. …The finished storm shelters would also be intended to be multi-use structures, allowing for schools to also use the space for half-court basketball, volleyball, and more when there isn’t an active storm.

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