Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Since 1989 Specializing In The Installation Of All Types Of Flooring Material “Proud to be a member of the Toronto Construction Association” 50 Ritin Lane, Unit 12 Concord, Ontario L4K 4C9 Tel.: (905) 760-0500 Fax.: (905) 669-8661 Email: gromualdi@lgrtiles.com WOOD-FRAME CONSTRUCTION the 18-storey Brock Commons Tall- wood House at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, which at the time was the world’s tallest contem- porary wood building, and Origine Eco-Condos, a 13-storey mass-timber condominium in Quebec City. Since then, the federal govern- ment has been encouraging the use of wood in tall buildings, bridges and low-rise residential construction proj- ects through its Green Construction through Wood (GCWood) Program. It provides funding to defray the extra costs of pioneering projects that demonstrate innovative technical solu- tions to the use of wood in building. The program’s budget currently totals $39.8 million over four years, starting in 2018-19. Ofthis,$3.15millionisearmarkedfor research and development; $2.2 million will support specialized training; and $2.45 million will go towards four building projects currently underway. These include Green Vision Develop- ment (a residential condominium complex in North Bay) and three Toronto-area projects: The Arbour at George Brown College, the University of Toronto’s Academic Tower, and 57 Wade Avenue, a planned eight-storey office building in the transitioning industrial area between the Junction Triangle and Wallace Emerson neigh- bourhoods. (For more on two of these projects, see pages 36 and 37.) Toronto will see further tall-wood construction in the new Quayside neighbourhood, an approximately 4.9-hectare site on the eastern water- front being developed by Sidewalk Toronto. As part of its innovative reimag- ining of the previously low-density location into a vibrant urban neigh- bourhood, Sidewalk Toronto plans to showcase the possibilities of tall-timber technologies in a series of buildings that will maximize comfortable year-round outdoor spaces using flexible, modular design principles. “It’s exciting times,” observes Carol Phillips,partneratMoriyama&Teshima Architects, part of the team that designed the George Brown College Arbour project. “We’re right at the edge of new and developing systems, and so we’re going to have to work together to problem-solve and find the right solu- tions, and be open-minded, too.” “I’m optimistic that this will be a trend that will expand,” adds Grossman. “[Wood] is going to be used for both commercial and residential applica- tions, and you’re going to see more and more of it.” |BD Advances in the fabrication of engineered-wood products are causing a rethink of fire codes Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2018 | 35