Because it?s 2018, tall wood and mass timber are here to stay. In the race to be the tallest wood tower in the world, he current title-holder, as of this writing, is Brock Commons Tallwood House, an 18-storey student residence at the University of British Columbia, designed by Acton Ostry Architects (AOA) in Vancouver. As Bruce Haden reported in this magazine during the building?s construction last year (See ?Reaching New Heights,? Canadian Architect, February 2017), we know that mass timber ?is light, fast and clean; it?s good for the environment and for the Canadian forestry sector. For anyone still wondering why we don?t see more tall wood buildings, it remains largely a regulatory issue, as building codes scramble to catch up with the advances in material and construction methodology. The 18-storey Brock Commons Tallwood House is considered the world’s tallest mass-timber building, for now.
AOA principal Russell Acton, approached this project as ?a highly practical challenge with no ego,? and set out to deliver a mass-wood building that could be easily replicated by commercial developers. This workaday approach dovetailed nicely with the client?s goal to open a new student residence on time and on budget. The university?s Student Housing and Hospitality Services department (SHHS) is in the midst of a five-year building plan to deliver 4,000 new beds for on-campus housing. From the beginning of the project, AOA and SHHS set out to do a job with everyone working fro...