Buildings Award of Excellence
Fast + Epp Home Office Building Fast + Epp
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Building blocks The building uses hybrid mass timber and steel to demonstrate efficiency, cost-effectiveness and sustainable construction. The lateral design of the four-storey structure features Tectonus devices installed at the base of cross-laminated timber (CLT) shear walls and within steel-braced frames—a first for North America. These act as shock absorbers during an earthquake, providing energy dissipation and damping, and can snap back to their original position once shaking ends. The Tectonus connectors undergo no damage, allowing for immediate return to occupancy after a significant earthquake. View glass, meanwhile, eliminates the need for blinds and associated cleaning and maintenance. As sun exposure changes throughout the day, proprietary View Intelligence control software dynamically optimizes the tint of each window using a low-voltage current. The transition between varying tint levels enables these windows to control glare and solar heat gain, while maximizing natural light and views. To further maximize light and views to the exterior, glued laminated timber (glulam) beams are supported on the west side by slender steel hollow structural section 32
CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEER
(HSS) columns. Generous glazing and the smart-glass technology allow ample daylighting of the mass-timber interiors, reduce energy consumption and improve ambiance. Concept Lab is a research and development (R&D) space, on the ground floor and half of the second floor, for design professionals, academia and industry associations, focused on structural design, construction methods and architecture. The space provides access for Fast + Epp staff to brainstorm and develop concepts, a full shop to fabricate models, prototypes and mock-ups, a 100,000-lb loading frame for structural testing and digital suites to develop design visualizations, software and tools. Keeping it simple Shoehorning 1,400 m2 of permissible area into a tight site entailed planning challen-
ges, but collaboration between Fast + Epp and f2a Architecture yielded a four-storey building with generous daylighting at the north, south and west sides, ample balcony space arising from setbacks at the north and south end of the fourth floor and a two-storey central atrium connecting the third and fourth floors, all above a single-storey underground parking level. Many prefabricated timber and hybrid timber-steel panel options were considered for the floor construction. Simplicity won out with the choice to use glulam beams clear-spanning 12 m, at 3-m spacing, supporting CLT floor panels. The beams were designed with 608-mm depth to satisfy strength requirements while pushing the limits on vibration performance. An extensive testing program using accelerometers was established to ascertain the impact of various building elements on the performSeptember/October 2022
PHOTO COU RT E SY FA ST + E PP
onsulting engineering firm Fast + Epp’s four-storey home office building serves as a ‘living laboratory,’ with new ideas and technologies being tested both during construction and throughout the life of the building. With an emphasis on employee wellness and productivity, the building combines the latest sustainable design strategies.
