
Inside Vancouver's Brock Commons, World's Tallest Mass Timber Building (2017) - montrose
https://www.archdaily.com/879625/inside-vancouvers-brock-commons-the-worlds-tallest-timber-structured-building
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malkia
How is this building protected against termites and other wood eating pests?

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caresource_ta
I can't provide a specific answer but the whole field of Engineered Lumber
works on these problems.

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cloudwizard
The speed of construction is due to prefab wood. Prefab concrete would be just
as fast or faster.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwvmru5JmXk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwvmru5JmXk)

It has nothing to do with wood. Wood could be easier on the environment
though.

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caresource_ta
Prefabrication requires a higher level of design maturity as opposed to
traditional construction and from my anecdotal experience this can provide a
significant increase in speed itself.

I did a quick search to determine if cities built from wooden structures can
act as carbon sinks and I came across this great overview of the carbon
footprint of wood buildings[0]. Granted it was created by a special interest
group.

0- PDF [http://www.awc.org/pdf/education/gb/ReThinkMag-
GB500A-Evalua...](http://www.awc.org/pdf/education/gb/ReThinkMag-
GB500A-EvaluatingCarbonFootprint-1511.pdf)

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kazinator
Much better link: [http://vancouver.housing.ubc.ca/residences/brock-
commons/](http://vancouver.housing.ubc.ca/residences/brock-commons/)

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sizzzzlerz
So when the building was complete, what were the final costs relative to an
equivalent steel and concrete structure? The video said construction took
9-1/2 weeks but there was a lot of pre-planning, mock ups, etc. that wouldn't
have necessarily been needed for the steel version. Those extra costs need to
be factored in as well, at least until enough experience has been gathered to
no longer require it.

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kazinator
It was finished in 2016, after eight months.

According to this article: [https://biv.com/article/2016/09/crews-complete-
structure-rec...](https://biv.com/article/2016/09/crews-complete-structure-
record-setting-timber-tow)

 _" The $51.5 million structure is on budget, and Metras expects any future
buildings to cost less, as the Brock Commons budget also includes $4.45
million from external agencies to cover first-time costs of using mass timber
on such a scale."_

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infoaddicted
There's another site I won't visit again. (modal popup to subscribe before I
can even see the page)

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allannienhuis
That was quite interesting, particularly the videos. Lots of use of pretty
innovative techniques - 3d modelling, just in time delivery during
construction, CNC for structural members & pre-fab parts (high precision for
construction industry)

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acidus
T3 in Minneapolis feels much nicer!
[https://www.archdaily.com/802831/t3-michael-green-
architectu...](https://www.archdaily.com/802831/t3-michael-green-architecture)

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kazinator
Short. Looks like an office building, not residential: no balconies. (Do the
windows even open? Good luck trying to feel good when HVAC is down.)

No ocean/mountain views.

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kreetx
Not to say this building isn't great, but are those two internal towers in the
third image made of concrete there? Is that so to make the elevator shafts
(fire resistant)?

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Amygaz
Yes that's the code. They have to use a reinforced concrete structure that is
earthquake resistant. It houses the elevators, the stair cases, and utilities.
It's pretty standard everywhere for tall building.

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sandworm101
Elevators are also long moving mechanical systems that need extreem
reliability to be useful. There is still a place for the stability and
rigidity of metal in such systems.

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dis-sys
it is pretty misleading to call it a timber building, there are clearly two
concrete and steel cores there.

