WINNER OF A 2019 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
The mass timber structure is showcased on the fully glazed north façade.
In Toronto, academic institutions are one of the leaders in championing the use of mass timber for tall buildings. The University of Toronto is part of this vanguard. Its Academic Wood Tower, on the downtown campus, is a fifteen-storey classroom and office building. At 80 metres tall, it?s vying to be North America?s tallest timber building. It?s also a test-case for new approaches that anticipate upcoming changes to the Ontario Building Code.
The structure of the Academic Wood Tower?beams, columns, decks, bracing, and notably its core?is constructed of glue-laminated mass timber. A significant portion of the timber is exposed, particularly on the fully glazed north façade. The structural system features dramatic super-braces that are tied to the core, providing lateral stability to the timber frame. The super-braces diagonally wrap the tower, while floor-height trusses negotiate shifts in the grid. The designers were able to show that a partially exposed mass timber structure introduces no more risk than conventional tower construction. The mass timber tower sits atop a portion of an existing athletics centre.
The tower?s podium is the northern portion of the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, also by the same team of architects. At the base of the building, the structural braces divide to reconcile the six-bay wood structure of the to...