Jonathan Heppner is a Principal at LEVER Architect with 24 years of design and management experience working with significant civic and creative organizations. Born and raised in Oregon, Jonathan’s formative experiences in the forests of the Pacific Northwest led to a commitment in timber construction and its benefits for regional ecosystems and societal health. His experience in timber construction led to his management role on Framework, the first mass timber high-rise project in the US to receive permitted approval in 2017.He directs LEVER’s research and testing work, a grant funded initiative encompassing more than 50 mass timber studies on topics ranging from full scale seismic, structural and acoustic testing of wood assemblies to indoor air and thermal comfort analysis of mass timber buildings.Currently he is working on a design for his alma mater University of Oregon's Acoustic Testing Lab, Oregon State University's Fire Testing Laboratory, and Timberlab's CLT manufacturing facility to advance the utilization of mass timber.