Vandusen Gardens
North Bay Regional Health Centre
Outstanding Wood Buildings
Bill Fisch Forest Stewardship and Education Centre
Angus Glen Community Centre and Library
Armstrong-Spallumcheen Arena
Art Gallery of Ontario (Renovation and Addition)
Banff Recreation Centre
CentrePlace Manitoba
Canada’s Blueprint for Mass Timber Success Unveiled at Parliament Hill
June 13, 2024 (Ottawa)– Earlier today, The Transition Accelerator unveiled The Mass Timber Roadmap at the Press Conference Room in the West Block on Parliament Hill. The comprehensive report outlines an ambitious and strategic vision for the future of mass timber in Canada and its potential to transform green construction and drive economic growth across the country. Developed in partnership with Canadian Wood Council (CWC), Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), and Energy Futures Lab (EFL), The Mass Timber Roadmap comes after more than a decade of collaborative efforts to unlock and demonstrate potential of mass timber and lays out a visionary plan to increase the mass timber market – both domestic and exports – to $1.2 billion by 2030 and to $2.4 billion by 2035. This ambitious growth aligns with increasing market demand in North America and around the world. By leveraging the power of mass timber solutions, Canada has a unique opportunity to enable the construction of residential and commercial structures at greater speeds, with lower costs, and with a lighter carbon footprint; all while capturing a share of the rapidly growing global market. Achieving targets laid out in The Mass Timber Roadmap requires coordinated efforts across three critical action areas and the report provides actionable next steps, including: Today’s event on Parliament Hill featured the following speakers who highlighted the roadmap’s goals and the promising future for mass timber in Canada, followed by an engaging Q&A session with journalists: Key Quotes: “The mass timber sector provides a perfect example of how Canada can add value to its primary resources through innovative technologies and advanced skills. If we act strategically and quickly, we have the opportunity to build an industry that reduces emissions, addresses urgent needs, and positions Canada to win in emerging global value chains.” – Derek Eaton, The Transition Accelerator “To build a world-class mass timber sector, Canada must adopt a strategic approach to ensure we can compete and win globally. This is about smart policy here at home and bringing more Canadian wood to our cities and to the world. By enabling faster, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly construction with mass timber we can grow jobs, help address the affordable housing crunch, and reduce emissions.” – Kate Lindsay, Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) “The potential for Canadian wood products to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment and drive the growth of a sustainable and prosperous wood industry is immense; however, global competition to capitalize on the significant economic opportunities mass timber presents in the transition to a lower-carbon world will require us to act swiftly to stay competitive and meet rapidly emerging domestic demand.” – Rick Jeffery, Canadian Wood Council (CWC)
UBC Gateway
Province: British ColumbiaCity: VancouverProject Category: InstitutionalMajor Classification: A2 – Lecture hallsHeight: 5 storeysBuilding Area: 266,041 ft2 Description: The UBC Gateway project (official name to be determined) will co-locate the School of Nursing, School of Kinesiology, Integrated Student Health Services, and components of UBC Health together in a building that will facilitate inter-program interaction and contribute to students’ health and wellbeing. The building makes extensive use of local CLT and GLT in its hybrid structural system and architectural features reflecting the project’s Pacific Northwest setting and the immediate campus context. Prefabricated components are expediting construction and creating open, flexible space that can accommodate future programming changes. Long-span composite timber floor panels were pre-assembled off site and craned in, and the building envelope is fully prefabricated as three-metre-wide panels that tie into the timber structural module at the building perimeter. The building will be complete and occupied in 2024.
The Goldring Centre – University of Toronto Academic Tower
Province: OntarioCity: TorontoProject Category: InstitutionalMajor Classification: D – OfficesHeight: 14 StoreysBuilding Area: 176,549 ft2 Description: The University of Toronto’s new academic tower is a14 storey mass timber building, currently under construction, built with GLT components. Realizing an innovative building of this size and complexity that goes beyond prescriptive height limit of the Ontario Building Code required extensive support and a capable, timber experienced project team. Technical project interactions with WoodWorks staff date back to 2016 and we have tracked 21 direct interactions related to this project. A deeper look at our project data reveals that the project team had an additional 23 indirect interactions with the WoodWorks team (attending events, requesting technical documents, etc.). The project team has 28 projects in their combined experience portfolio, indicating an experienced, supported design team was able to push forward an alternative solutions success storey and one of North America’s tallest wood buildings.
