Tag Archives: British Columbia

University Builds Up with Timber Addition: The first Canadian law school in three decades is built in Kamloops, B.C.

Last year, Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, B.C., opened the country’s first new law school in more than three decades. As a result, the push was on to move the new cohort of lawyers out of a temporary location and into a permanent home. The growing university had a site in mind—the new law school location would be constructed atop Old Main—an existing two-storey, 122- by 26-m (400- by 84-ft) concrete structure built in 1970, housing classrooms and offices.

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Specifying fibre-cement for a high-end home

With its uninterrupted ocean vistas of pristine blue water and views of the city, West Vancouver is home to some of the most sought-after and expensive real estate in the region. When custom homebuilder and architect, Farzin Yadegari, began construction on his own house in the area, he had to find cladding that would speak to both form and function. It needed to fit the high-end esthetic of his neighbourhood, while also being able to withstand the harsh weather conditions and moisture of the local environment.

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Think Globally, Act Locally: Net-zero impact development

The phrase “think globally, act locally” is a good way to describe how sustainable design projects are conceptualized. From the building to the community scale, the goal is to minimize the initial and ongoing effects of development by striving for net-zero impact and focusing on ecological restoration. (Net-zero refers to a balance of resource use and restoration on an annual basis—producing as much energy through renewable sources as consumed, sequestering equal or greater amounts of carbon as emitted, or diverting all waste from landfills or other harmful means of disposal).

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The Sky’s The Limit: Designing airports with wood

Before the 1850s, wood was commonly used as a primary structural building material in myriad types of non-residential construction around the world. Many of these timber-built structures remain standing and are still in use today, including factories, warehouses, schools, temples, and churches—some dating as far back as the seventh century, demonstrating the durability and strength of building with wood.

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Mid-rise Makeovers: B.C. code changes encourage building with wood

Something old is new again on the B.C. construction landscape. Currently, more than 100 mid-rise or six-storey wood-frame residential structures are in development or have been completed. Since the B.C. Building Code (BCBC) was revised in 2009—increasing the permissible height of light-frame wood construction for residential buildings to six storeys—there has been a lot of interest in the building and design community to pursue new projects. It is easy to understand this emerging trend in high-density residential construction when considering the environmental, social, and economical benefits.

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