Made of cross-laminated timber and located on one of the most biodiverse university campuses in the country, the
Johnson Owl Deck represents the first step in creating a world-class natural area while exemplifying the possibilities of a new sustainable construction method. The project was developed in Associate Professor
Jesús Vassallo ’s wood seminar at Rice Architecture by a team formed by Rice alums Pouya Khadem and Lene Sollie in collaboration with structural engineer Tracy Huynh, and funding was obtained through a federal grant from the U.S. Forest Service plus additional gifts to the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Lynn R. Lowrey Rice Arboretum Committee from Judy and Michael Johnson.