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Toronto Conservation Authority's new headquarters will 'set the standard' for sustainable development

Construction is well underway on Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s new headquarters, a structure that’s being made almost entirely out of wood and is billed as one of the most
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Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) project manager Jed Braithwaite said the building will “set the standard” for sustainable commercial building design and showcase appropriate development within a watershed.

“The 8,100-square-metre, four-storey mass-timber office building will act as a living laboratory for developers, professionals, researchers, and students, as well as accommodate over 400 TRCA staff and provide development planning and permitting services for TRCA’s regulated areas,” he said in an interview via email. “The building is also adjacent to York University campus and will provide unique learning and partnership opportunities for York’s faculty, students as well as facilities staff with a focus on campus planning, design and construction and energy management.”

TRCA’s former head office, also at 5 Shoreham, was constructed in the 1970s and closed in May 2015. TRCA staff relocated to an interim head office in Vaughan.

TRCA broke ground on its new headquarters in January 2020, with occupancy expected in September 2022.

Braithwaite said the “centre of the building is the boardrooms” where the executive and board will meet bi-weekly. “It is at these meetings that citizens and planning applicants … come before the TRCA. These rooms are strategically situated overlooking the Black Creek Ravine so that all attending are intimately aware of an example of the ecology their decisions will affect.”

Braithwaite noted a “major focal point for the employee and visitor experience is four waterwalls” in the atria. “Encased in glass and extending the height of the building, the waterwalls serve a dual function, symbolizing TRCA’s role of safeguarding the GTA’s watersheds while also being an integral part of the building’s HVAC system,” he said. “The waterwalls are lined with metal mesh that distributes water that tempers air that is then distributed throughout the building in the raised floor plenum.”

Peter Duckworth-Pilkington, principal at ZAS Architects, which designed the building along with Bucholz McEvoy Architects (BMCEA), said the project will have community benefits, including “linking to the trails that exist in the Black Creek,” a free bicycle repair station and a vegetable garden. “The idea is to use the building almost as a piece of architecture that is like a gateway to the ravines,” he added.

Merritt Bucholz of BMCEA said all of the structure is “natural wood and it’ll just be exposed,” noting timber construction is a new and growing technology. “Looking into the history before timber started not to be used in buildings after the big fires around the turn of the century, we are at a point where we can bring it back and bring it back safely in terms of fire protection.”
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