Vancouver will soon have the world’s tallest mass-timber building. Construction has begun at the future home of University of British Columbia’s 18 story tall dormitory. At 53 meters tall (173 feet), Brock Commons student housing will be 4 stories taller than Treet in Norway which currently holds the title for tallest mass-timber building.
As The Province reports, construction began this week as engineered wood panels and pillars were trucked in. All the engineered wood products are made off site by Structurlam Products and delivered. The building will consist of cross-laminated-timber (CLT) floors and walls held up by pillars composed of glue-laminated wood (glulam).
Nicholas Sills, a supervisor at Structurlam, told The Province, “If you can panelize (materials) and put things together tightly like a Lego kit of parts, it can be extremely efficient…We hope this project goes up very, very fast.”
To see pictures of the building under construction, watch the video by David Rigler in The Province’s “UBC’s timber tower starts to rise.”