Feds support construction of mass-timber office building in Vancouver

Rendering courtesy Dialog.

The federal government is contributing $3.5 million toward the construction of The Hive, a hybrid mass-timber commercial office building in Vancouver’s False Creek Flats neighbourhood.

The announcement was made last week at Fast + Epp’s research and development (R&D) hub, Concept Lab. Besides Fast + Epp, the project team includes Dialog, AME Consulting Group, AES Engineering, Exp, GHL Consultants, BVDA Group, Ventana Construction, Kalesnikoff and George Third & Son (GTS). The owner is BentallGreenOak and the anchor tenant will be Nature’s Path.

The federal contribution will be made via Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan‘s) Green Construction Through Wood (GCWood) Program, which supports the use of wood as a low-carbon construction material in infrastructure projects.

“The design team is grateful for the financial support that has driven the development of innovative design and construction strategies that are economical, replicable and an important part of a sustainable future,” says Martin Nielson, partner at Dialog.

Featuring a honeycomb-shaped exterior, The Hive will be 10 storeys tall and more than 15,000 m². It will be constructed with prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels and glue-laminated (glulam) timber columns, braces and beams.

With a wooden braced-frame system (the tallest in North America) on the exterior, the design eliminates the need for an interior concrete core, thereby reducing environmental impact. It also includes Tectonus seismic dampers and connections for earthquake resilience at each of the braced-frame members and within the CLT shearwalls.

Located at 2150 Keith Drive, the building is targeting LEED Gold certification, with construction expected to be complete in 2025.

Rendering courtesy Dialog.