An Australian-invented low-cost engineered wood system built from peeler cores and forest thinnings will make its international debut at the International Mass Timber Conference in Portland, Oregon, this month — and its developer says the industry has never seen anything like it.
That is according to Pat Thornton, the Australian-based inventor and owner of the Loggo building system, who will present at Booth 770 during the three-day conference from March 31 to April 2.
Thornton says mass timber manufacturers, construction firms and policymakers will be “astonished, astounded and simply amazed” by the concept, which he describes as “the revolutionary, novel and unique, multi-patented, small diameter log frame construction innovation that the planet so desperately needs.”
Right now, Thornton said Loggo is still in its infancy, but it wants to expose itself to the mass timber industry and the green movements as a massive opportunity for forward-thinking, responsible, sustainable companies to seize as licensed manufacturers, JV partners, IP buy-outs, or any other beneficial proposals.
“All you need to do is visit our website for more information.”
Pat Thonrton on the Loggo system, which is available to review from Loggo website.
The display, which is now on its way to Portland, Oregon, will be supported by mass timber machinery developer Cliff Chang, principal of SK Global Co. Ltd in Taiwan, alongside Peter Blair of Structured Projects Australia — Loggo’s consultant — who will introduce a 20-to-1 scale model of a three-storey mid-rise American multi-residential apartment block.
“The model is small, but the legacy will be lasting,” Thornton said.
Laminated beams and columns made from small-diameter, minimally processed waste logs — peeler cores and forest thinnings from 50 to 90 millimetres in diameter — are fabricated with end-cleated connections and assembled on site via a rapid bolt-and-unbolt column and cassette system in spans of 2.4 to six metres.
Thornton argues the industry has lost sight of what affordability actually means. “As an industry we cannot and should not keep fooling ourselves that we are producing ‘affordable’ buildings any longer,” he said, pointing to urban and regional mid-rise zones where Loggo structures of two to eight storeys could be built from an already low-cost feedstock with minimal energy input.
“Depending on an interested company’s level of integration along the value chain, there will be ROI’s of hundreds of percentages in the offing that will still be lower cost than the incumbents,” he said.
Let the engineers do the maths!
Thornton says Loggo buildings can be engineered for greater earthquake and fire resistance than concrete and steel, and the system should hybridise well with CLT, glulam and concrete. Carbon lock-up in the built environment of 50 years or more — combined with the round log’s natural structural efficiency — forms the environmental case.
Rather than competing for high-grade plantation timber, Loggo draws on material that would otherwise supply landscaping, grape posts, tomato stakes or the pallet industry — or, as Thornton puts it, be “committed to unsafe kiln emissions.” Re-purposing that waste into mid-rise framing supports local and regional circular economies and, where best-practice silviculture is applied, can at least double plantation fibre yield whilst mitigating fire risk.
Thornton says the concept directly aligns with President Trump’s recent offer of US$95 million in competitive grants under his Executive Order on Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production and Agriculture. “We based the Loggo concept’s development on these principles 15 years ago,” he said.
The IMTC appearance follows a special presentation at the World Conference on Timber Engineering in Brisbane in June 2025, where the concept was accorded formal recognition by the Australian Research Council-funded Advance Timber Hub, led by Professor Keith Crews. Loggo is now finalising materials testing of Pinus radiata beams at the Department of Primary Industries laboratories in Brisbane.
Please note: Wood Central will have exclusive coverage from the International Mass Timber Conference in Portland, Oregon, next week. To learn more about the system, click here to visit the Loggo website.
