A Look at Vancouver’s “The Hive,” the World’s Most Advanced Seismic Timber Building

The world’s most advanced earthquake-resistant timber building is weeks from topping out, with “the Hive”—North America’s largest timber-braced building—rising in downtown Vancouver, according to a feature by Wood Central (8-7-24).

Wood Central spoke to Robert Jackson, Principal at Fast + Epp, one of the world’s leading engineering firms at the forefront of mass timber, who said he was excited to see the building finally “go vertical.”

“They are at level seven right now and will top out later this month at level ten,” Mr. Jackson said. “It’s got 105 seismic dampers (which absorb seismic energy and reduce deformations in the structure), and I would say with quiet pride that it is one of the most seismically advanced timber buildings in the world.”

Considered one of the world’s “pioneering projects,” the building features an all-timber system—including glue-laminated timber beams, columns and braces, and cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels—that was fabricated by Kalesnikoff from levels 2 to 10. It also includes shear walls and balconies and is a “kit-of-parts prefabrication” allowing for rapid on-site construction.

Using perforated plate technology where energy dissipates inside the building’s frame members and shear walls, the building’s timber-braced frame and CLT shear wall system underwent small-scale and full-scale testing at the University of Alberta and the University of Queens. “This provides valuable engineering information to the design community for future tall wood projects,” according to Fast + Epp, which has provided extensive information about the testing.

As part of British Columbia’s Mass Timber Demonstration Program, Jackson said the government has encouraged developers to push the boundaries with timber buildings, “both seismically, but also in bending and compression.”