Amazon DII5 - Sustainable Delivery Center
A New Kind of Delivery Station
Amazon’s latest delivery station — known as DII5 — recently opened in Elkhart, Indiana as part of a shift toward greener, more sustainable distribution facilities. The facility is not just another warehouse: it’s being positioned as a laboratory for sustainable design, featuring more than 40 separate sustainability strategies all under one roof. Located on a 39-acre site, DII5 incorporates mass-timber elements (cross-laminated timber panels, glulam beams, and wood fiber insulation) in place of traditional steel or concrete construction. It also includes low-carbon concrete, a rainwater reclamation system, daylighting strategies, EV-charging infrastructure, and native landscape features. One visually striking detail is the building’s exterior cladding, our thermally modified poplar siding — grown, milled, and treated within about 100 miles of the site — wraps portions of the façade.
FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE
With the completion of this project, Amazon is signaling that aesthetics, human experience, and sustainability can belong together.
Locally Sourced: The poplar used for cladding was sourced nearby (within 100 miles), milled, and thermally modified locally — which helps reduce both embodied carbon (less transportation) and supports regional suppliers.
Form and Function: Because our products are thermally modified (using no harsh chemicals, just heat & steam), the cladding offers greater dimensional stability, resistance to rot or decay, and a deeper, richer tone. It also contributes visually as well as functionally: it helps humanize what could otherwise be a purely industrial façade, giving warmth, texture, and tactility to the building envelope.
Sustainable From the Start: The product selection is aligned with green-building priorities — less waste, better longevity, and recognition by both LEED and Declare.
Our involvement is more than cosmetic — it’s part of Amazon’s larger strategy of treating DII5 as a model for how industrial architecture can be both high-performance and more natural in appearance and biophilic in performance. We are honored to be part of an amazing team that brought this concept to life. DII5 isn’t just a fulfillment/delivery station — it's Amazon’s testbed. What succeeds here may scale to dozens or hundreds of future buildings.
See More on this project on the official Amazon website here.
Location: Elkhart, IN
Architect: ZGF Architects
Product: Thermally Modified Poplar Cladding
Photography: HALL + MERRICK + MCCAUGHERTY
