Environmental Systems & Structural Research – TRCA Mass Timber Office

Toronto Region Conservation Authority Office

Location: Toronto, Canada G.F.A: 80,000 sqft Year: Under Construction Architects: ZAS Architects + Bucholz McEvoy By: Habiba Elnagdy

Research Statement

The Toronto Region Conservation Authority’s new head office is an 80,000 sq.ft., 4-storey mass timber post-and-beam administrative office building. Elements has been integral to the value-engineering process for this project, including the proposal of a cost-effective prefabricated exterior envelope, helping drive the design development forward. The building is intended to be one of the most energy-efficient office buildings in North America and received funding through NRCan’s Green Construction Through Wood (GCWood) program, which aims to encourage greater use of wood in construction projects.

Through precedent photos and architectural documents, we discovered Site maps, plans, sections, heat maps of the building, structural capabilities, renders, construction photos and details. This lead to us navigating solar arrangement and how the building it formatted into a tiered system which manipulates the solar gain to the buildings benefit, it also exerts that energy through the solar chimneys. Our Process then moved from Diagrams to then the 3D Model to fully display our knowledge of the site.

Building Section N-S

Solar Manipulation Diagram

Solar Chimney Diagram

Waterfall System Diagram

Double-Skin Facade Diagram

Structural Diagram Exploded Axon

Wall Section 1 Plan View & Interior Perspective

Wall Section 1 Exploded Axo

Wall Section 1 Elevation and Perspective Views

Wall Section 2

Wall Section 3

4D Construction Process

The post and beam form of construction is fairly straightforward for this building. Building members are in repeated standardized modules which makes assembly more simple and efficient. Floors are constructed one after the other. First the posts are layed out, then beams, then the CLT floor panels and finally the shear joint panels around the perimeter to lock all components together. This process is repeated for subsequent levels.

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Inside Renders

Carbon Content Analysis