This is the one. Looks beautiful. Haven't seen this proposal before.
Someone who is more familiar with code...
1619125727216.png


is this likely to be 1+9(wood)?
 
Someone who is more familiar with code...

is this likely to be 1+9(wood)?
Probably not. We generally won't see more than 6 storeys in wood until NBCC 2020 releases later this year to allow up to 12.

There are exceptions, but you have to do quite a bit of leg work with the Fire Code to prove it's safe. It's a big deal when that happens, see Brock Commons in Vancouver as an example.
 
The lot on the south side that has been cleared is this one, corner of 17th and 31st Street SW (SW Corner)

The lot that is one parcel in that has been cleared is 1908 and 1910 31st Street SW. I saw a for sale sign up on it a few weeks ago. I know Battistella had a DP for a 4 storey project approved there about 5 years ago. Maybe someone bought the site, and the plans, because according to the City's "My Property" map, a building permit for a Commercial/Multi-Family project was created on April 4th (BP2021-05441).
 
Probably not. We generally won't see more than 6 storeys in wood until NBCC 2020 releases later this year to allow up to 12.

There are exceptions, but you have to do quite a bit of leg work with the Fire Code to prove it's safe. It's a big deal when that happens, see Brock Commons in Vancouver as an example.
With the extreme cost escalation of lumber recently, is there much of a differential still between wood construction and concrete construction? Like, how much would you save using wood construction on a typical 6 storey building, vs. pure concrete with today's prices?
 
With the extreme cost escalation of lumber recently, is there much of a differential still between wood construction and concrete construction? Like, how much would you save using wood construction on a typical 6 storey building, vs. pure concrete with today's prices?
There isn't really an easy answer because it depends on so many factors. But generally, labor is the most expensive part of a structural build. Cast-in-place concrete is really labor intensive. The ability to prefabricate wood sections (such as on The Fifth) is a huge efficiency that can outweigh the increased material cost, but it depends on the project, developer, skilled labor availability, what kind of prices they can lock in the contracts, and most importantly, what the client wants.

Brock Commons was 18 storeys of mass timber CLT & a CIP concrete core, and took about 8 people three months to construct the wood using only a crane and a couple mallets. Compare that with CIP concrete, that's a crew of ~30 doing a typical floor a week. I've been in meetings where regardless of the benefits of timber or steel, the client wants concrete, end of story. Residential towers >100m are almost always concrete here, office towers >200m usually opt for steel.
 

Back
Top