The University of Toronto’s new 14-storey mass timber building, set to be the largest mass timber building built by a university, has reached its seventh and eighth floors – with crews instaling the thick diagonal mass timber beams and inverse timber columns through the middle floors of the new building.
Known as the “Academic Wood Tower,” the 77-metre tall building is the work of Toronto-based Patkau Architects, MJMA Architecture & Design, with Ryan Going, the tower’s project manager, revealing to the Daily Commercial News that “(the tower) is a structural steel elevator and stair core that is essentially hung from a mass timber exoskeleton and structure.”
Located at the Devonshire Place and Bloor Street intersection, the tower will serve the Rotman School of Management, the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy in the Faculty of Arts & Science, and the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education: “The Academic Wood Tower will provide ample space to inspire our program’s participants as they work to explore and transform themselves, their organisations and their communities,” said Susan Christoffersen, the Dean of the Rotman School of Management.
The choice to use mass timber construction systems was the only choice, according to Sandra Hanington, vice-chair of the university’s governing council, who revealed last January that the building serves as a “best practice” case study for Toronto-based designers and engineers.”
“(U & T’s) Academic Tower proves that we can reduce emissions, responsibly construct new buildings and contribute to the vibrant architectural fabric of a dense city like Toronto,” Ms Haanington said.
New Building Code Permits 18-Storey Timber Builds.
The latest development comes after Ontario, like British Columbia, introduced a new building code allowing encapsulated mass timber buildings to rise to 18 storeys in height. Coming into effect January 1st, Ontario’s Building Code will increase the allowable Encapsulated Mass Timber Construction in the province’s latest bid to address the chronic housing shortage.
“The use of mass timber can help keep the cost of construction down and boost our northern economy,” said Paul Calandra, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, in a statement. “As we work to cut red tape to increase housing supply, we’re taking an innovative approach to help our partners get shovels in the ground.” Wood Central understands that the changes apply to all residential, commercial and institutional buildings in the province, including Toronto, Canada’s most densely populated city, which ranks fourth in the world and first in North America for the number of skyscrapers under construction.
- Visit Wood Central’s special feature to learn more about the changes to the Building Code and the Canadian government’s push to use mass timber to solve its housing squeeze. To find out why mass timber could drive up to 25% of construction in the multi-family residential sector, click here.
