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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe big timber renaissance has been a long time coming. It began over 50 years ago in North America, with the commercial development of new engineered wood products, like glulam \u2013 glued and laminated beams like the ones for Telus Gardens. The next generation of products, like cross-laminated timber (CLT), is more recent. It\u2019s only since 2012 that Structurlam has been manufacturing CLT, a solid wooden panel that can be up to 40 feet long and as thick as you want, made from rows of dimension lumber laid one on top of the other. Each row is laid at 90 degrees to the one below, and glued together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s plywood done with dimension lumber, if you like,\u201d says Downing in describing CLT. It has the structural strength to replace concrete in large building applications. It can even be used for elevator cores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Vancouver, examples of massive cross-laminated timber panels being used instead of concrete are the five-storey-tall Earth Sciences Building, and Ronald McDonald House. In both structures, architects left some of the panels exposed, accentuating the warmth of wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most impressive examples of engineered wood, however, is at the Frank Gehry-designed Art Gallery of Ontario, where a block-long facade of glulam timbers and glass has been described by critics as a billowing \u201ccrystal ship drifting through the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Downing\u2019s company provided the glulam. He was there in 2008 for the opening of the art gallery, which required seven thousand individually designed timbers to create the masterpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI watched the people come in, they looked up, they looked this way, they looked this way, and then guess what they did? They went over there and they touched the wood. There is something about wood. They went over there and put their hands on it. Would they have done that with steel? With concrete? We are pretty proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Downing cites three critical advances in technology behind the renaissance in wood construction, particularly in large buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022The adoption of 3D modelling by architects and designers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe bring in the the architectural drawings and the structural drawings and then we create a 3D model of that building. In that 3D model we start putting in the timber members and we start putting in all the wood-to-wood steel connectors.,\u201d said Downing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022Linking 3D design to computerized machines referred to as CNC (computer numerical control) that mill the wood, making precise joints, fittings and channels for carrying wiring and plumbing lines. Everything is within two to three millimetres of accuracy, an impossibility in the days of hand-controlled levers and wheels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverything from the model for the wood members goes to CNC machines,\u201d Downing says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022Advances in engineering of steel connectors used to fasten the wooden beams. Structurlam uses steel connections manufactured in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe trend is that the architects don\u2019t want to see the steel connections. They want the steel hidden inside the wood. A sophisticated connection like this requires a CNC to actually frame the wood. You couldn\u2019t do it by hand for the accuracy required.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manufacturing the wood components and steel connectors in CNC-equipped factories means the final building can be shipped to the construction site and assembled quickly. The cost of materials is about 10 per cent higher but it can be made up through shorter construction time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further, notes Downing, structures can be built year-round without concerns about concrete pours in below-zero temperatures. It\u2019s a big reason they are winning bids in the north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three technological leaps, Downing says, mean that products like glulam and cross-laminated timbers can be shaped in any way a designer can imagine. Perhaps the most impressive example is the five-storey-high staircase at the Earth Sciences Building. The stairs are cantilevered out into the open space of the atrium, as if they are suspended in air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Downing describes the advances as disruptive technologies. The new products led to advances in timber engineering, which led to an explosion of creative design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow it looks like we can build just about anything under the sun. And because we can build just about anything under the sun, there is very much an emphasis now on pushing the envelop on what we can do with wood.\u201d
Advances in wood technology prompted the provincial government to adopt a Wood First Act in 2009, requiring that wood be considered in publicly-funded construction to promote a culture of using wood. The building code was also amended to permit higher wood buildings. Other provinces have since followed suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, the sky\u2019s the limit: Last year in Chicago, just to prove that it can be done, an architectural firm redesigned an existing 42-storey tower using laminated timber columns, eight-inch-thick CLT floors and solid timber shear walls. It was a design exercise only, but for B.C., there is an irony in an American firm taking the lead in tall timber design: The research was financed by the Softwood Lumber Board, which is funded by Canadian softwood lumber duties collected by the U.S. during the lumber trade war. The board notes that up until now, massive timber buildings have only been championed by a handful of architects, mostly from Canada and overseas. Downing says although competition is growing, it\u2019s creating an awareness of wood that\u2019s benefitting all players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n