Tall & Urban News

Victoria Developer Reaches for Sky with Mass Timber Tower

Victoria Photoshop
Victoria Photoshop
03 April 2019 | Victoria, Canada

A condo project in Victoria could become one of the largest residential buildings in British Columbia made from wood.

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The proposed development on Speed Avenue, will have a 12-story tower with 179 units. Other than the underground parking garage, it will be constructed entirely of mass-timber products.

The proposal also calls for a six-story building next to the tower that will use traditional wood-frame construction. It will be earmarked for affordable housing.

The developer said it chose to build with wood because it’s lighter and there were soil issues on the property “linked to the weight of the building.”

“That naturally led us to a mass timber building, which is considerably lighter than a concrete building,” said Luke Mari, with Aryze Developments.

Mass timber covers a spectrum of different types of wood construction technologies that are used in place of concrete. Its use is growing in popularity in British Columbia.

“They’re a thick piece of wood that is now a structural element that is fire resistant and can take structural loads,” Mari said.

Timber buildings over six stories have required special permissions because they exceed the parameters in the existing building code.

But the provincial government recently announced plans to change the code to allow 12-story mass timber buildings. A similar change is expected in the federal building code.

Increasing the amount of wood used by British Columbia’s construction industry also helps support the forest industry, said Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

“We are seeing some investment in B.C.,” he said. “We are on the cutting edge of capturing the market.”

Making the switch to timber took some convincing for the builder behind the proposed development in Victoria.

“My only concern coming in was how the market would accept a wood timber building as opposed to a 12-story concrete building,” said Edward Geric from Mike Geric Construction.

But seeing similar projects being built in other cities such as Portland provided confidence in the technology.

Wood construction also offers better affordability and a lighter environmental footprint than using concrete, Mari said.

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