Let’s be honest. For decades, if you were a developer looking at a project over five stories, wood wasn't even part of the conversation. You were talking concrete and steel. Wood was for single-family homes and low-rise apartments, the "stick-frame" world. It was flammable, structurally limited, and frankly, viewed as "small time." That view is now obsolete.

While the headline-grabbing stories of 3D printing in construction have largely focused on extruded concrete homes, a quieter but perhaps more revolutionary shift is occurring in the sector. High-performance materials—specifically fiberglass composites, carbon fiber, and printed metals—are moving from aerospace and automotive labs onto the job site, promising structures that are lighter, stronger, and far more geometrically complex than their concrete counterparts.

The Home Depot has expanded its reach in the professional construction supply market through its acquisition of GMS Inc., a move that effectively brings the legacy of Westside Building Material into Home Depot’s growing pro distribution network. While Home Depot did not purchase Westside directly, Westside became part of GMS in 2021, and GMS is now operating under Home Depot’s subsidiary SRS Distribution.

Lowe’s Companies has completed its acquisition of Foundation Building Materials (FBM) in a transaction valued at approximately $8.8 billion, marking one of the largest recent moves in the building materials distribution space. FBM is a major North American supplier of interior construction products, including drywall, metal framing, ceiling systems, doors, hardware, insulation, and related materials. FBM operates more than 370 branches across the United States and Canada.