The City of Timmins has a population of 45,000 but due to its location in northeastern Ontario, is a regional service centre for 100,000 people. It had become obvious that two major community services were in drastic need of improvement. The existing library, built in 1921, had served long and well but needed more space to provide a stimulating learning environment and more room for new technology so vital for engaging young people. The Canadian Mental Health Coalition, providing a range of social services for the community, needed more space to adequately provide assistance in the region.

The forest products sector is a vital part of the heritage, culture and economy of Timmins. For this reason, the City of Timmins wished, wherever economically justifiable, to incorporate wood products into the structure and appearance of the Library. In addition, there were obvious benefits to combining the library with the needs of the Coalition Centre offices of the Canadian Mental Health Coalition, funded by the Province of Ontario, and agreement was reached on combining these two buildings. The Coalition Centre has been named the Judy A. Shanks Integrated Services Building. The resulting landmark facility (Figure 1) is centrally located in Timmins, and with ample parking and barrier-free access, welcomes all the city’s and region’s residents.

The use of wood for the construction of fire halls has always been a viable option within the BC Building Code and is further supported by the fact that wood is a regionally based material.

The critical code requirement for buildings of this type is that they must be designed to post disaster standards, but need not be of non-combustible construction. In the two examples of fire halls showcased here, the extensive shear wall systems that are an essential component of post-disaster construction have been simply and economically constructed using built up wood members, tie downs and plywood sheathing.

The challenges come with the coordination of each discipline: architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical to position wood shear walls and structural components so that they become attributes to the design and so that services can run uninterrupted without compromising the post disaster standards.

The use of wood in these conditions has always served as well or better than other materials as wood is readily available and most trades are familiar with its installation and inherent properties.

Fire Chief Niels Holbek of Oyster River Fire Rescue noted that, “Wood provided a cost effective option for the construction of the hall to post disaster standard. (With) metal cladding on the exterior and the roof, drywall on the interior and a monitored alarm system concerns about fire and life safety are minimal. Whether subject to fire, earthquake or other natural forces, wood structures tend not to fail in the dramatic way that some other types of structures can.”

Sudbury, Ontario, located at the edge of a large geological structure known as the Sudbury Basin (a 1.85-billion-year-old meteorite impact crater), is home to Canada’s largest mining and smelting complex. By the 1970s, decades of mining and smelting nickel, copper and iron had reduced some 10,000 hectares of the surrounding area to desolation and had damaged watercourses for miles around. Sudbury is still a rich mining centre, but, as a result of a 90 % reduction in emissions and aggressive land reclamation, it has become a world centre for environmental science issues related to mining.

Working for years from four cabins, the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit – a research joint venture involving Laurentian University, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources – needed a new home to expand its specialized research into the protection, remediation, and restoration of freshwater lakes and ecosystems.

The resulting Vale Living with Lakes Centre for Freshwater Restoration vastly increases the Cooperative’s research capabilities. The major funders of the project included Industry Canada (Knowledge and Infrastructure Program), Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities, Vale – a global mining company, FedNor, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Research Fund, and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.

The Centre provides researchers and technicians access to laboratories, classrooms, offices, environmental bays and a watershed restoration facility. At the Centre, researchers examine long-term effectiveness of pollution reduction, and how a damaged lake ecosystem is able to dynamically heal itself over time.

As well as being a centre of excellence for critically important ecological research, the Vale Living with Lakes Centre is an extraordinary building with an exceptionally low environmental footprint. The project makes extensive use of wood products harvested and manufactured close to Sudbury, including structural, framing and decorative wood products.