Pioneering Wood Construction is in Vancouver B.C.’s DNA

Believing that investing in Canada’s forest sector by building sustainable communities is an investment in Canada’s future, the Province of British Columbia is dedicated to mass timber projects — increasing the use of wood as a green building material and leading the nation’s transition to a low-carbon economy. To that end, the Honorable Joyce Murray, Minister of Digital Government, on behalf of the Honorable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, have announced a grant of $648,250, provided through Natural Resources, Canada’s Green Construction through Wood program, for Fast + Epp, a structural engineering firm from Vancouver, toward the construction of their head office. The building will be a four-story, hybrid, mass timber and steel building. In discussing the project, Paul Fast, Partner in Fast + Epps, said, “It’s a really special moment in our Fast + Epp company history to have the opportunity to move into a custom-built mass timber office building. It features a robust, sustainable structure; warm, exposed-wood interiors; and the latest in seismic technology using self-centering, energy-absorbing Tectonus connectors. The building will serve as living lab with ongoing thermal, moisture and vibration monitoring. It will also house Fast + Epp’s Concept Lab, where physical testing of mass timber components and software development will take place.”