The Lodge at Autumn Willow

Fairfax, Virginia

The Lodge at Autumn Willow is an affordable living, age-targeted community development located in Fairfax County, Virginia and developed by The Michaels Organization. The full development includes more than 60 units for affordable living spread out across two levels above ground as well as a basement, all set on a 20.53 acre site. A central focus for the development was a low-impact building design that would complement the surrounding neighborhood. The site is set in a beautiful, wooded area, and the architecture of the development is heavily inspired by a “National Park Lodge”. The building forms an asymmetrical “H” shape, with an east-west oriented section that forms an entryway to both the north and south “wings” on either side, as well as the wooded rear courtyard beyond. This section features exposed columns and a cross-laminated timber (CLT) roof / ceiling.

ASPECT was hired by the turnkey installer and prefabricated timber supplier for the project. In our role as Mass Timber Specialty Engineers and Fabrication Designers, we focused on this two-story, mass timber entryway and amenity area that connects the two “wings” of this light wood frame (LWF) residential building. Our team provided not only mass timber guidance for this portion of the building, but also connection design and fabrication design for the mass timber components. This portion of the work included 124 CLT panels and 46 glulam elements (columns and beams).

Photos by Mike Schwartz

ArchitectKTGY Architecture + PlanningStatusCompleted (2025)