Work on Toronto’s tallest mass timber residential building (to date) is underway with Intelligent City, a mass timber fabricator using robots to custom cut walls, floors, and ceiling panels, busy prefabricating parts for a nine-storey building at 230 Royal York Drive in the west neighbourhood.
Wood Central understands the project will comprise 58 market-rate rental units and two replacement dwelling units, offering affordable and long-term rental options. Developed by Windmill Developments and Leader Lane Developments, it is being delivered with the help of project partners Oben Build, Lang Wilson Practice in Architecture Culture Inc (LWPAC), and Moses Structural Engineers.
“New construction practices like this shorten the time to build housing and reduce the impact of construction on neighbours,” according to Amber Morley, a local councillor. “I’m encouraged to see developers embracing green building practices and working toward a more sustainable future for Toronto.”
Following four months of off-site prefabrication at its Vancouver factory, on-site installation of Intelligent City’s building components will begin in May, with expectations that the entire structure and enclosure will be completed within 90 days.
“This project is a testament to how prefabrication can meet growing housing demand without compromising sustainability, design, or quality. Intelligent City’s mission is to accelerate the supply of urban housing using renewable resources and industrialized manufacturing while maintaining a high level of design quality and freedom.”
Oliver David Krieg, president of Intelligent City, who said that push towards off-site construction will speed up construction by at least 3-4 months.
Expect more and more mid-rise and high-rise timber skyscrapers in Toronto.
Coming into effect January 1st, Toronto will now allow encapsulated mass timber buildings to rise to 18 storeys in height after Ontario, like British Columbia, approved changes to its Building Code. The new Ontario Building Code will increase the allowable encapsulated mass timber construction by 50% from 12 storeys to 18 storeys to address the City’s housing shortage:
“The use of mass timber can help keep the cost of construction down and boost our northern economy,” according to Paul Calandra, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “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.”
Last year, Wood Central reported that one of the world’s tallest mass timber buildings could rise in the City after planning officials reviewed and recommended that city officials green-light a 31-storey cross-laminated timber building close to the University of Toronto’s new 14-storey mass timber building, also under construction. The proposal, which first hit the City’s desk in July 2022, comes from Unix Housing Group and Icon Architects and includes 490 rental units (80% of which will be affordable housing for at least 40 years). The building envelope will take 191, 193, 195, and 199 College Street and 74 and 76 Henry Street in downtown Toronto.
- 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.
