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Canada's Earth Tower: Mass Timber Balcony Mockup and Research

This webinar is part of the RAIC 2022 Virtual Conference on Architecture, now available to stream!

Topics:ÌýSustainability / Climate, Advanced Technology / Building Science

Length:Ìý1 hour |ÌýWhat's Included:ÌýVideo, Quiz, andÌýCertificate of CompletionÌý

Fundamental to the project is demonstrating an approach to urban development that prioritizes meaningful initiatives to address humankind’s impact on climate change. Equally important, is to bring focus to the influence materials have over the health and well-being of the inhabitants, and the implications to the ecosystem that result from their creation. In pursuit of these two objectives, the use of wood is critical, with its capability to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a meaningful way. By employing wood as the primary structure, the proposed development will advance the industry by altering market perceptions, providing choice, prioritizing performance, and minimizing the environmental impacts. Balconies are an important consideration in many jurisdictions for multi-unit residential buildings both as a functional extension of the living space and a key component in the overall building thermal performance. Also, they are essential design components that pose significant challenges for the successful execution of competing structural, fire and thermal requirements. These challenges are amplified in mass timber construction due to added new design challenges regarding structural connections, building enclosure detailing, and proper waterproofing membrane application.

Overcoming these barriers and providing solutions to address them will improve the acceptance of timber as a viable structural system. For thermally broken balconies with mass timber components, the strategies developed as part of this objective are applicable as lessons learned to other projects and the focus of this research report.This session will provide an overview of the research completed based on a two-story balcony structure from Canada’s Earth Tower design proposal to use as a prototype to design and construct with a focus on investigating key research questions. While this is not a comprehensive comparison or examination, the balcony mockup studied what it means to have a face-mounted, projecting and thermally broken timber balcony system to a glulam primary mass timber structure through a unitized CLT wall panel.

Learning Objectives:

By the completion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the use of timber as a structural material in a thermally broken balcony system: mass timber primary loading bearing structure, timber strut, timber deck, and timber unitized envelope system.
• Evaluate constructability, methods of construction sequencing of the prefabricated balconies to avoid temporary scaffolding and bracing, and opportunities for prefabrication to support the broader goals of efficient and quick completion of the building envelope.
• Describe the design of the mockup and compare the performance of two different types of timber balcony decks.
• Describe the achievement of explain how a zero threshold (no more than 13mm) balcony condition to accommodate universal accessibility.

Subject Matter Expert:

Cillian Collins is a Senior Architect with Perkins+Will with over 15years of experience across a variety of project types and scales in Canada and Europe, from sketch design through construction. He is also a Certified Passive House Designer and Chair of the Passive House Canada Education Committee, playing a key role in curriculum development, teaching, and advocating for the Passive House standard in Canada.

Aik Ablimit
AIA, NCARB, CPHD, LEED AP BD+C
Project Architect, Perkins&Will

Having grown up in Uyghur region in Central Asia, educated in China, and professionally trained in the United States, Aik was exposed to many different cultures from an early age. This large cultural span helped him formulate a unique worldview and sparked his passion in interpreting various cultures through an architectural lens - which led him to a field of architecture. Ìý For Aik, architecture is more than a building; it is a great balancing act between art and science, private and public, and past and future. Having strong understanding of all the elements influencing the architecture, Aik strives to approach design with a holistic view and provides conceptual clarity for his projects and design teams. Ìý At Perkins&Will Vancouver Studio over the last six years, Aik has been a creative force behind many of Studio’s high-profile projects. As a project architect, Aik has led several projects at various design stages including 800 Granville and Canada’s Earth Tower. Most recently, SoLo project he had been a key team member from concept to construction has won numerous design awards including AIBC Award of Excellence, Canada Wood Design Award, and Passive House Institute International Award.

Pricing A-La-CarteÌý