Five-Story Post-and-Beam Terminus at District 56 in Langford, B.C. Completed

The new Terminus at District 56 commercial building located in Langford, B.C. has been completed. The five-story mass timber post-and-beam building includes mass-timber components from Structurlam Mass Timber Corp., in partnership with Design Build Services and Aspect Structural Engineers.

Located on Vancouver Island, the new building contains the first buckling-restrained braces housed within a timber frame. As the building site is on one of the highest seismic regions in North America, requiring its lateral system to be highly ductile while allowing the wood to be exposed.

The first-of-its-kind construction is one of two projects from Structurlam, Design Build Services, and Aspect Structural Engineers in Langford, B.C.

In speaking about the new building and its design, Ilana Danzig, associate principal at Aspect Structural Engineers said, “This building is a perfect example of a structure that is driven by both function and design. The buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) combined with the modern mass timber create a building that is high-performing without sacrificing on architecture and appearance; in fact, the BRBs and the wood are visually complementary, particularly with the clean and modern detailing used for the mass timber connections.”

Hardy Wetzel, CEO of Structurlam added, “The Terminus project sets a high precedent for mass timber construction and meets a variety of structural considerations, including fire ratings, seismic benchmarks and structural performance, all while providing the desired aesthetic. The completion of the building is a big win for all involved and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with Design Building Services and Aspect Structural Engineers on Tallwood 1 in the coming months.”