Noncompliant Brian

Intel

Urbanarium: Decoding Timber Towers Competition

The fine folks over at Urbanarium are at it again with another competition. This time, they are looking to stir up the conversation around mass timber buildings and are offering a first prize of $15,000 from a total of $50,000 in prize money. An additional $10,000 Digital Award prize is also being offered.

If you are interested in joining the conversation, the question rounds are already underway and the registration deadline is May 2nd! Submission deadline is August 25th, so there is time to work on your submission.

Urbanarium City Debate #18: IS MASS TIMBER WORTH THE RISKS?

Do you like a good debate? Particularly about Architectural challenges?

Urbanianum is hosting another debate on May 5th, 2025 at UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, this time about the pros and cons of mass timber construction, which is interesting particularly given the limited uptake in the BC market.

Signup and come join the discussion that will be much more stimulating than the Federal debate, and hear the opinions about this construction type that is being pushed by the Province to support the wood industry in BC.

Lore

We Cut Down Trees to Look Over the Trees

I am always intrigued when I find a building in another part of the world that I just know would be a real challenge to construct in Canada due to restrictive nature and increasingly restrictive interpretation of our Building Code when it comes to structures that do not fit within the typical building application. Yes, an Alternative Solution is an option, but in my experience, it really depends on the technical capabilities of the Authority Having Jurisdiction as this correlates with their their ability to review and be comfortable with a performance approach.

This building is 26 meters tall, or about the same as a typical 8 storey building. As it substantially is an interior stair case with the sole purpose of providing access to a platform at the top to overlook the trees and surrounding forest area, there is little resemblance to a typical building, however, it is a structure that is used to support an occupancy (the viewing platform) and therefore would be regulated by our Building Code if proposed in Canada.

How would you think this structure would be argued or fit into our Building Code? A single storey structure which would allow a single exit stair given the small building area and despite the 26 m elevation difference between the bottom and the platform? Or, as something else? Does it make sense that the viewing platform would have to be separated from the stair? Or, that a standpipe system be provided as the roof is arguably greater than 14 m above grade? Send me a note on your thoughts.

As a side note, there is a similar outlook structure in the Victoria area, called the Malahat Skywalk, and is located on the lands of Malahat Nation. I hear that the slide is a real fun way to get down from the top, and it is fast!

Wisdom

ZeroCarbon Compliance + Heat Pump Technology

Join CarbonWise, Nick Bray Architecture, and Celerity Engineering on May 7th for a noontime presentation on decoding the Energy Step Code to achieve ZeroCarbon Compliance and Heat Pump Technology. Our dear friend Elisabeth Baudinaud from CarbonWise with some interjections from myself, will be presenting on the new requirements in the BC Building Code that come into force on March 10th, 2025.

Don't miss this free event to earn yourself the always much needed AIBC learning units.

Converting Offices To Shelters And Housing

With office space in downtown city centres still at a low occupancy rate following the pandemic and housing pricing still at a high, the conversation around converting underutilized office towers into residential continues with this recent Canadian Consulting Engineering article.

The conversion of existing office space into residential has more than envelope, structural, mechanical, and electrical challenges. Most jurisdictions will treat such a proposal as a change in major occupancy and require fire and life safety upgrades to the existing building to facilitate the conversion. In the City of Vancouver these requirements are clearly outlined in the Building By-Law, but in other jurisdictions, this is a negotiated process that may result in additional requirements that the owner was not anticipating.

We are currently working with a client in the City of Vancouver who is converting the upper three storeys of an existing office building into a hotel. The change in major occupancy has induced a number of challenges with the existing 30 year old building and we are negotiating the upgrade relaxations for a couple of existing conditions that are impossible or would make the project not financially feasible if the owner was required to upgrade them. I expect we will be able to negotiate an acceptable outcome for the client so that the project can proceed and help alleviate some of the hotel shortage in the city.

About

I hope Easter treated you all well and you didn't overload on cheap chocolate Easter eggs and your kids maintained a somewhat lower blood sugar level than they achieved during Halloween! My kids had a good time with their younger cousins out in the sun on Sunday.

Thank you for reading today. I am always happy to hear your feedback, so don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts.

I hope to see you at our presentation on May 7th with Elisabeth from CarbonWise. It is a great presentation and I am excited to present parts with Elisabeth.

See you on the next issue in May!

Brian