With the final approval of the Board of Governors, the construction of a new residence to accommodate 404 students is set to begin in October. Unlike other residences on campus, this building will be made almost entirely out of wood.
The main goal is to respond to the demand for more on-campus housing. But, said John Metras, managing director of Campus Infrastructure and Development at UBC, it also presents a new way for UBC researchers to learn. “This project was an opportunity to apply engineered mass timber in an innovative way in a tall building application,” said Metras.
Metras said that the idea for this residence arose from the provincial government’s “wood-first” policy which asks that government agencies and associated entities make using wood a priority in new projects.
The novelty of the residence building is that it will be 18 stories high, exceeding the current building code limit of six stories for a wooden structure. This means that the BC Building Safety and Standards Branch had to conduct a special review on the project. “We expect that the provincial approval will come in late September [or] early October,” said Metras. In the nature of the Campus as a Living Lab project, UBC researchers are monitoring and analyzing the structure.
“We’ve taken incredible precautions in the design to ensure that the building is perfectly safe and that we can exceed all code requirements in that regard.” Metras emphasized.
To ensure fire safety, protective triple layers of drywall will encapsulate the wood structure. Large beams, which burn very slowly, will provide cross-sectional support. In addition, two concrete elevator and stairway cores will provide the residence with structural support to exceed current building code standards for seismic performance.
The biggest challenge during construction, according to Metras, will be dealing with moisture issues with the wood. However, durability against moisture can be achieved by creating a “building envelope so that the wood material itself is not subjected to this moisture,” explained Frank Lam. Lam is an expert on wood building design and construction in the Faculty of Forestry.
“There are solutions to everything — it is a matter of using the right solution,” said Lam.
To avoid the interference of heavy rains with the construction schedule, the wood structure will be built in the summer months of 2016. It is expected that the wooden residence will be completed faster than the typical constructions of concrete and steel that UBC has built thus far.
“The sun is doing the work for us to create this beautiful product that can be used,” said Lam.
A shorter construction period is not the only advantage. Construction with wood is also more sustainable. It requires less energy than the manufacturing of steel and concrete thus reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide can also be stored within wooden structures.
The total project budget is $51.5 million, with funding coming from the Canada Wood Council and various other sources, including Natural Resources Canada, Forest Innovation Investment, Binational Softwood Lumber Council and the provincial government.
“One hundred per cent of the tall wood premium is covered by other external funding sources,” said Andrew Parr, managing director of Student Housing & Hospitality Services. “Student rents do not cover any premium associated with tall wood — we continue to uphold this principle.”
He confirmed that students can expect to pay the same rent in the Tall Wood Building as for similar types of accommodation on campus.
The plan is to open the new residence in August 2017.