Toronto’s towering structures of steel and concrete are getting some new company in an old-fashioned building medium reborn in an innovative new form.
The rise of fire-resistant construction materials like steel and concrete in the early 20th century quickly phased out wood as a structural medium for larger buildings, but new advances in timber and advantages in sustainability have brought on a resurgence of wood construction across the globe.
Unlike the untreated wood of yesteryear, modern wood construction uses a treated form of the material known as mass timber, which uses several layers of wood bonded together and laminated to create structural elements with load-bearing and fire resistance ratings that far exceed the performance of standard wood.
Recent changes to the Ontario Building Code have allowed developers to utilize this innovative building medium to push the boundaries of sustainable construction, resulting in a wave of new large-scale wood-framed structures in Toronto.
A pair of mass-timber buildings now stand as showpieces in one of Toronto’s newest neighbourhoods, and is just an appetizer for even more ambitious wood towers in the pipeline.
Developer Hines completed its new T3 Bayside project at 251 Queens Quay East late last year, adding a new jewel to the burgeoning East Bayfront district and claiming the title of North America’s tallest mass-timber office building in the process.
Looking south across Queens Quay to T3 Bayside. Photo by Jack Landau.
Designed by Danish architects 3XN working alongside local firm WZMH Architects, the ten-storey office building’s glass and steel exterior features a glazed reveal section that steps up the exterior to shine a spotlight on spaces within.
Looking southeast across Queens Quay to T3 Bayside. Photo by Jack Landau.
The building broke ground in mid-2020 amid some very uncertain times for in-person office usage, and major construction works were completed in 2023 ahead of the building’s official opening earlier this year.
Looking south across Queens Quay to T3 Bayside. Photo by Jack Landau.
A second phase building with a matching design is planned to rise immediately to the west of T3’s first structure, though, with the current state of Toronto’s commercial market, many office developments around the city face uncertainty.
Only a few tenants have moved into T3 Bayside as of late 2024. Photo by Jack Landau.
But locals won’t have to wait long to see another timber-frame structure open in the East Bayfront area just steps to the west of T3 Bayside.
George Brown College is wrapping up construction at the site of its new Limberlost Place building, the latest addition to the institute’s waterfront campus.
The striking ten-storey educational building at Queens Quay East and Dockside Drive features a standout design from the team of Moriyama & Teshima + Acton Ostry Architects — the winner of a 2018 international design competition that included some bold visions to develop the site.
Limberlost Place rising above Queens Quay East. Photo by Jack Landau.
Named for the Limberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve near Huntsville, Ontario, the project is being built thanks to a combined $18 million donation by Canadian business leader and philanthropist Jack Cockwell.
George Brown broke ground on the new landmark in late 2021, and work has progressed to the final stages of construction, with the building now structurally complete and fully enclosed in cladding and racing towards completion.
Limberlost Place is now enclosed in cladding and just months away from opening. Photo by Jack Landau.
Limberlost Place is connected to the existing Waterfront Campus’ Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences to the south via an impressive pedestrian bridge, also constructed using mass-timber.
The building is now just a couple of months away from its scheduled January 2025 opening.
T3 may hold the title of the tallest timber office building on the continent, but Limberlost Place — standing over ten metres taller — is now by far the tallest timber structure in town (though not the tallest wood tower overall on the continent by far).
Both of these buildings will soon be overtaken by a new tallest timber structure in town, with construction already well underway on the University of Toronto’s Academic Wood Tower, which is climbing 14 storeys to a height of 77 metres near St. George subway station.
