UBC to be Home of North America's First Market Mass Timber Multi-family Development

VANCOUVER – Adera celebrated the installation of the final mass timber panel at the Virtuoso project in UBC’s Wesbrook Village this month. The development is the first market condominium project built using mass timber in the form of CrossLam Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) panels supplied by Structurlam Products LP.

Adera was recently recognized with the Design Excellence Award at the 2017 Canadian Home Builders’ Association National Awards for Housing Excellence. According to the company, introducing luxury wood construction to the industry was a natural evolution. They leveraged expertise from nine REAP (Residential Environmental Assessment Program) certified projects in the UBC area.

UBC Properties Trust, the master planners of Wesbrook Village, has recognized practical innovations in mass timber, embracing the use of this technology to construct Brock Commons Tallwood House, the world’s tallest wood frame building. The structure features the use of mass timber materials and was completed in less than 70 days, approximately four months faster than a typical project of its size.

Virtuoso showcases Adera’s growing expertise in luxury wood construction, with signature West Coast Modern architecture. The residences embrace a central zen garden and feature up to 850 square feet of private outdoor space, with expansive rooftop lanais with stunning views just steps from Pacific Spirit Regional Park.

The use of mass timber at Virtuoso gives the structure a sustainable and smart advantage. Luxury wood construction has been proven to meet, or exceed, concrete structures built to code in virtually every way. Mass timber provides legitimate fire resistance, and outperforms concrete in seismic conditions. And wood is a superior renewable building resource.

Each floor at Virtuoso consists of approximately 160 CLT panels, which were lifted at a rate of one every 12 minutes. Seagate Structures, Adera’s partner for the framing of the building, worked at an accelerated pace installing 4,500-square-feet of flooring in less than three hours.

Mass timber also transmits less airborne and impact sounds between attached homes, which compliments Adera’s Quiet Home technology.