| Giving Back

Mattie Dixon School Bag Drive

It’s back to school time again! For most kids, August is a month filled with anticipation about the new school year…and shopping for school supplies. But for families in need, it can be a stressful time. Their children want school supplies like all the other kids.

We recently conducted one of our favorite annual fundraisers on behalf of The Mattie Dixon Community Cupboard – M+K’s Annual School Bag Drive for children in elementary school. Every year our employees donate money to purchase backpacks and essential school supplies for kids in need in Ambler, PA. Mulhern+Kulp matches the total amount of funds raised by our employees. Volunteers fill each backpack with binders, composition books, folders, pencils, crayons, glue sticks, ear buds, etc.

We’re super excited that, in addition to the 30 backpacks filled with supplies, we raised an additional $850 which we have donated to Mattie Dixon!

| Events

M+K Judges Multiple Regions of Timber-Strong Design Build Competition

We were honored to once again serve as judges for various regions of the Timber Strong Design Build Competition [TSDB]. This competition tasks each team of university engineering students to design and build an artistically creative 2-story wood light-framed building that is sustainable, aesthetically pleasing and structurally durable. The students operate as a design/build firm and develop skills with wood design, BIM modeling, structural calculations, and hands-on actual construction of their structures at the competition.

Our representatives included Ricky Zabel who helped judge the Pacific Southwest Regional competition [hosted by University of California San Diego – UCSD], and Jared Hudson who judged at the Gulf Coast Region [hosted by Auburn University].

Per Ricky Zabel: “It was great to help judge the TSDB Competition, both for the reports and the in-person build. The combination of the technical design and hands-on building process are an invaluable opportunity for students to gain real life structural engineering experience. The confidence and understanding exhibited by the students really makes me excited about the next generation of engineers in the wood-framing industry!”

The Timber Strong Design Build Competition is sponsored by: Simpson Strong-Tie, APA [The Engineered Wood Association], AWC [American Wood Council], and ASCE [American Society of Civil Engineers].

| Single Family Projects

MuCullough Architects & Adam Leland Homes

This exquisite custom home in Clyde Hill, WA, is one of the latest projects developed from our collaboration with McCullough Architects in the Seattle suburbs. Built by Adam Leland Homes, this 2-story 5-bed/6-bath offers both quality and quantity over its 7,000+ square feet. Cathedral ceilings, wide-open layouts, and multiple covered outdoor areas create the perfect backdrop for the inspired architectural touches. While all its bells and whistles would be a marvel in any setting, the direct view of the Seattle skyline across Lake Washington certainly doesn’t hurt.

The expansive indoor spaces and covered deck areas which make these picturesque views possible also create structural challenges for supporting both the vertical and lateral building forces. Supporting 8-foot cantilevers, sometimes in two directions, in a 10-inch-deep roof system required integrating steel beams into the wood framing when engineered lumber wouldn’t cut it. The tall windows make for great views but require careful design of the few remaining exterior wall panels for lateral support, particularly in regions with high seismic demand like the Pacific Northwest.

We always enjoy working alongside the great staff at McCullough Architects and the awesome team at Adam Leland Homes.