Canadian and BC Provincial Governments Support Groundbreaking on Mass Timber Building in Vancouver

On Wednesday (7-5-23), Taleeb Noormohamed, a Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville, on behalf of Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson, announced a $3.5 million (CAD) contribution toward the construction of an innovative hybrid mass timber commercial office building to be located in Vancouver’s False Creek Flats neighborhood.

The federal contribution will be made through the Green Construction Through Wood (GCWood) Program that supports projects and activities that increase the use of wood as a low-carbon construction material in infrastructure projects. The BC portion will be supported by a contribution from the NetZero Energy Ready Program and a $500,000 contribution from the Mass Timber Demonstration Program (MDTP).

The building will be 10 stories tall and over 15,000 m2. It will feature a unique honeycomb-shaped exterior and will be constructed with advanced mass timber systems using prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated (glulam) timber columns, braces, and beams.

The wooden braced-frame system on the exterior eliminated the need for an interior concrete core, which in turn reduces its impact on the environment. The replicable shape of its exoskeleton design also makes it ideal for more sustainable, cost efficient, and green construction.

The building, when completed in 2025, will be the tallest braced-frame mass timber project in North America and will employ an innovative seismic resistance system. In addition, the building is targeting a minimum LEED Gold Certification.