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J UNE 2017 | 21 Engineered Wood Products PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVEN ERRICO + KK LAW/COURTESY BC WOODWORKS! Engineered wood products reach new heights by LAURIE JONES W ith a significant change in the National Building Code to allow for taller wood buildings, the use of glulam timber, mass wood panels, CLT and other unique construction options has the design community buzzing. There is great anticipation for the opening of an iconic tall wood building in B.C. – the Brock Commons Tallwood House at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Just weeks away from officially welcoming residents, it will be the tallest contemporary mass wood building on the planet. Designed by Vancouver's Acton Ostry Architects, in collaboration with struc- tural engineer Fast + Epp and tall wood advisor Architekten Hermann Kaufmann of Austria, Brock Commons will be a hybrid structure, comprised of 17 storeys of mass timber construction above one storey of concrete and two concrete stair cores serving all floors. The floor structure will include 5-ply CLT panels supported on glulam columns on a 2.85-by-4-metre grid. This results in the CLT panels acting as a two-way slab diaphragm, which eliminates the need for load-carrying beams. The construction of Brock Commons has raised awareness about the opportu- nities afforded by prefabrication and manufacturing techniques using engineered wood products. "Above and beyond the safety, environmental and economic bene- fits of wood, demonstration projects such as Brock Commons will inspire designers, builders and manufacturers to further refine the specification and use of structural wood products in Canada – ultimately expanding the opportunity for new market development," explains Michael Giroux, president of the Canadian Wood Council. Rory Koska, director of Alberta Wood WORKS! is also seeing a significant change in the construction industry in that province. "This is a large departure from what we could do before. Previous regulations would only allow up to nine metres in height in wood construction in Alberta," he explains. "We are seeing the use of large- scale timber in projects. For example, Calgary has two recreation centres, one that has already opened, and the second one, Rocky Ridge, is the largest timber roof in North America at the moment. It's a massive recreation centre." He adds that the Ritchie Market in Edmonton, built with glulam and mass wood panels, is a two-storey mercantile building with a bike shop, coffee shop, butcher and brew pub. "The use of wood and the use of new innovative products are start- ing to take off in Alberta," he says. "We have a lot of designers who are looking at Taking It Up A Notch + + Brock Commons Tallwood House, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.

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