The World's tallest Mass Timber building is well underway and the Mass Timber portion of the project is moving ahead of schedule. The 18 story student residence has been proceeding with erection at nearly a pace of two floors per week. The final project will top out at 53 m (173 ft) tall and house over 400 student dorms. The University of British Columbia has been extremely progressive in the pursuit of modern engineered wood products, helping to support the economy of British Columbia, as well as supporting the city of Vancouver for its Greenest city in the world 2020 vision.
A Mass Timber - concrete hybrid structure was selected to demonstrate the viability of Tall Wood structures while remaining cost comparative and adding life safety factors. The project demonstrates a high level of fire safety with multiple redundant systems in place, including 3 layers of gypsum and high end reserve sprinkler system. In the event of an earthquake the timber structural weighs less than the concrete alternative and provides better energy dissipation, allowing it to exemplify superior seismic performance.
The project is revolutionary in its use of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) in a true 2-way span, allowing for the removal of all beams in the structural system. The Mass Timber system consists of glulam columns and CrossLam floor plates with specialty steel connection linking the elements. These elements are progressively assembled and stacked together at a record breaking pace. The Mass Timber portion was prefabricated with CNC machines offsite to tight tolerances. This allows for a quick and easy progression on site with little to no problems and holdups.
Key Mass Timber Project Members of the team are:
UBC Properties Trust - Client
Acton Ostry - Architect of Record
Fast + Epp Engineering - Engineer of Record
UrbanOne - General Contractor
Seagate Structures- Mass Timber Installer
Structurlam Products - Mass Timber / CrossLam Fabricator
This live webcam from Seagate Structures, gives a weekly timelapse of the project and daily photos.
Keep tuned for more updates and in-depth report at the end of the project.
A Mass Timber - concrete hybrid structure was selected to demonstrate the viability of Tall Wood structures while remaining cost comparative and adding life safety factors. The project demonstrates a high level of fire safety with multiple redundant systems in place, including 3 layers of gypsum and high end reserve sprinkler system. In the event of an earthquake the timber structural weighs less than the concrete alternative and provides better energy dissipation, allowing it to exemplify superior seismic performance.
The project is revolutionary in its use of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) in a true 2-way span, allowing for the removal of all beams in the structural system. The Mass Timber system consists of glulam columns and CrossLam floor plates with specialty steel connection linking the elements. These elements are progressively assembled and stacked together at a record breaking pace. The Mass Timber portion was prefabricated with CNC machines offsite to tight tolerances. This allows for a quick and easy progression on site with little to no problems and holdups.
Key Mass Timber Project Members of the team are:
UBC Properties Trust - Client
Acton Ostry - Architect of Record
Fast + Epp Engineering - Engineer of Record
UrbanOne - General Contractor
Seagate Structures- Mass Timber Installer
Structurlam Products - Mass Timber / CrossLam Fabricator
This live webcam from Seagate Structures, gives a weekly timelapse of the project and daily photos.
Keep tuned for more updates and in-depth report at the end of the project.