Accoya wood selected for exterior railing and parapet elements at landmark cultural destination pursuing the highest levels of sustainable design.
Accsys, a global leader in premium, high-performance and sustainable wood building materials, is pleased to announce that Accoya was specified for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, including a dramatic curved parapet, one of the landmark’s defining architectural features, along with exterior railing elements throughout the project. This new cultural destination honours the conservation legacy of America’s 26th president.
Designed by Snøhetta in collaboration with JLG Architects, the library opened July 4, 2026, on the nation’s 250th birthday. Its architecture and landscape are imagined as a continuous experience rooted in the North Dakota Badlands, with natural materials playing a key role in connecting the building to its setting.
The project is pursuing full Living Building Challenge certification and the highest levels of LEED and SITES certification. A Four Zeros framework guides its sustainability strategy and spans the 93-acre site, incorporating ecological restoration, low-carbon materials, and a mass-timber structural system.
Achieving the project’s ambitious design, performance, and sustainability goals required close collaboration throughout pre-construction. RESAWN partnered with the project team and their façades consultant from early design through post-construction, evaluating technical solutions for the solid wood façade, developing custom profiles and finishes, and refining attachment strategies through large-scale mockups, material evaluations, and prototype testing. This collaborative process helped inform key design and material decisions, with RESAWN’s CUSTOM Accoya ultimately specified for the curved parapet and exterior railing elements, which are custom fabricated and finished for installation.
“The most important decisions on a project happen long before materials are ordered, said Bill Stevens, CEO and Co-Founder of RESAWN. “Our role is to work alongside architects and builders during design to evaluate feasibility, reduce technical risk, and help transform ambitious concepts into constructable solid wood façade systems. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is a great example of how early technical collaboration leads to better project outcomes.”
North Dakota’s harsh climate, intense sun, strong winds, snow, and wide seasonal temperature swings placed a premium on durability and dimensional stability. Accoya’s resistance to swelling, shrinking, and biological degradation helps the wood retain its form and performance in demanding exterior conditions.
“We created a full-scale weathering mockup with about a half dozen different wood species with different finish treatments that remained exposed for a full year, so we could evaluate durability, weathering, and appearance in both a vertical and parapet cap orientation,” said Beau LaCroix, AIA, senior project architect at JLG Architects. “For the upper railing and parapet, we needed a material that was exceptionally stable, visually consistent, and capable of delivering long-term performance in a harsh climate, because portions of those elements would be difficult to access for maintenance. Accoya ultimately gave us confidence it would meet both our design intent and the project’s long-term sustainability goals.”
For a building meant to serve future generations, material longevity is integral to sustainability. Accoya is manufactured using a proprietary acetylation process that permanently modifies the wood, enhancing its durability and dimensional stability while preserving the natural appearance and workability of solid wood. Reduced movement can help limit stresses on coatings, fasteners, and adjoining materials, supporting longer maintenance intervals and service life.
“The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library demonstrates what is possible when architectural ambition, material performance, and environmental responsibility are considered together,” said Rod Graf, general manager at Accoya USA. “It is especially meaningful for Accoya to be a part of a project created in the spirit of Roosevelt’s conservation legacy; one designed not only for the people who will visit today, but for generations to come.”
The project is not the first connection between Accoya and Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy. In 2015, Accoya was used to replace the wraparound porch at Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill residence in Oyster Bay, New York. More than a decade later, the material is part of the newest institution dedicated to interpreting his life, leadership, and enduring influence on conservation.
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library also joins Accoya’s portfolio of prominent cultural and civic projects in North America, including the Bow Bridge and Gothic Bridge restorations in New York’s Central Park and the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum in New Jersey.
To learn more about Accoya and its contribution to landmark architectural projects, visit www.accoya.com.
Image credit: Nic Lehoux.
