Modular Mass Timber Construction Helps Accelerate Construction of a Child Care Center in Ontario

A modular mass timber construction delivery system has helped to speed up the building of a much-needed child care center in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, according to Daily Commercial News (7-20-23).

Designed by Curran Gacesa Slote (CGS) Architects, the 90-spot Stationview Child Care is scheduled to open this September and will be operated by the YMCA under a lease agreement with the City of St. Thomas. Construction by Graceview Enterprises began in the spring of 2022.

Element5, whose production plant is based in the city, was the mass timber designer and manufacturer, consultant, and assembly provider. Design work commenced in November 2021, with production starting in August 2022. Installation by Contract Framing began last November.

The 781-square-meter building features cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glulam for the superstructure and cross laminated insulated panels as the envelope. The components included 1,005 square meters of cross-laminated roofing, 535 square meters of CLT walls, 29 pieces of glulam columns, 43 pieces of glulam beams, and 26 sections of steel columns.

“It (the timber assembly) went up fairly fast,” CGS principal William Curran told Daily Commercial News, but he emphasized that other factors besides speed were at play. Curran noted that using mass timber facilitated the creation of a more aesthetically pleasing facility.