Inspired by traditional First Nation plank house architecture, the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Centre will be a gathering place. Artistic rendering courtesy of MOTIV Architects.
BRITISH COLUMBIA – The Government of British Columbia is providing more than $4 million for 12 new mass-timber demonstration and research projects, which builds on BC’s global leadership in this area.
There are eight new demonstration building projects and four research projects receiving funding from the third intake of the Mass Timber Demonstration Program (MTDP). Projects range from a new indoor aquatic centre in Golden to a gathering place in Tofino. This will help further expand the use of mass timber in BC’s construction sector by providing designers and builders with real-world knowledge and experience they can learn from.
The Program (MTDP) provides funding for incremental costs in the design and construction of buildings that showcase emerging or new mass timber and mass timber hybrid building systems and construction processes. The program supports jobs and employment recovery in the design, engineering, construction, and product manufacturing sector.
Other old and new recipients of the funding are:
Falcon Projects building, The Exchange, in Kelowna received $137,000. This four-storey hybrid mixed-use building will demonstrate the feasibility of local trades and help boost the revitalization of Kelowna’s north end of downtown. This project will also be used to educate the insurance and lending industry on mass timber to reduce premiums associated with mass timber buildings. Developers will pursue Step Three of the BC Energy Step Code, the highest level for buildings of this type in the Okanagan. The project was designed by Faction Architecture Inc, the Structural Engineer, Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. and Building Code consultants, GHL Consultants Ltd.
The District of Saanich received $500,000 for the redevelopment of Fire Station #2 which will serve as a demonstration project and template for future post-disaster buildings. The project will replace the present one-storey, 353 square-metre building with a two-storey 2,190 square-metre steel and timber post and beam system that will accommodate a fire training tower and emergency vehicles. The projects architect is hcma; Structural Engineer, RJC Engineers and Mechanical Engineer, the Integral Group.
Kelowna International Airport Terminal Expansion — Phase I received $500,000. A unique hybrid mass timber solution will help ensure the expansion of the largest municipally owned and operated airport in Canada delivers when it comes to design, cost and schedule. Using naturally renewable, locally sourced wood, its signature CLT-slab “waffle” roof design is a warmer, more eco-friendly reinterpretation of yesteryears’ modernist “brutalist” aesthetic. The architects for the project are office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers, the project manager is 3BP Solutions Ltd and Construction Manager PCL Construction.
The Clayoquot Biosphere Trust Society — Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Centre received $300,000. This nearly all-wood three-storey building in Tofino will combine light-frame wood, mass timber, CLT, and a geothermally sourced hydronic heating and cooling system. Inspired by traditional First Nation plank house architecture, this development will be a gathering place for sharing, experimentation, learning, and innovation for the Clayoquot region. The architect for the project is MOTIV Architects Inc.
“A history of bold steps and achievements in building innovation has established our province as a global leader in the mass-timber sector. As the home of the first mass-timber building on the continent and the tallest hybrid mass-timber building in the world in its day, we know mass timber is the future of sustainable design and construction in BC,” said Jagrup Brar, Minister of State for Trade, and chair of the Mass Timber Advisory Council.
For a list of all Mass Timber Demonstration Program funded projects, visit: https://www.masstimberbc.ca/funded-projects/
