Seventeen storeys of Brock Commons are built with a hybrid structure that includes prefabricated glulam columns and CLT floor slabs. The structure was erected at a rate of two floors per week. Photo: KK Law, Courtesy of Naturally: Wood.
PROJECT Brock Commons Tallwood House, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.

ARCHITECT Acton Ostry Architects Inc.

TEXT Bruce Haden

PHOTOS Acton Ostry Architects Inc. & University of British Columbia, Pollux Chung, KK Law, and Steve Enrico, as noted
The new Brock Commons student residence at the University of British Columbia will be the tallest contemporary mass timber building in the world when finished this May. The term ?mass timber? or ?mass wood? covers an array of approaches, usually referring to a structural system combining engineered wood columns and floor slabs. In Canada, the most commonly referenced technical innovation, and one of the ones behind Brock Commons? structure, is the cross-laminated timber (CLT) slab, available in a variety of thicknesses for different span requirements. While Brock Commons? height will unquestionably get the lion?s share of attention after its completion, that?s not the most interesting thing about the building for architects. Rather, it is the fact that, on typical floors, the wood is not visible.
Prefabricated façade panels, including windows, helped speed the construction process. Photo: Acton Ostry Architects Inc. and University of British Columbia.
Acton Ostry Architects princ...