In the nine years since the British Columbia Building Code (BCBC) was revised to permit six-storey residential wood construction, architects, engineers, municipal authorities, and local fire departments have become familiar with the basic parameters of this new building type.
|
Historically, wood has been associated with a cost-effective way of building safe housing and neighbourhoods, and that tradition should be continued. Wood construction allows homebuyers the opportunity to purchase a modern, spacious, and affordable home.
|
The face of mid-rise construction may well be changing in Canada. In British Columbia, about 285 wood-frame mid-rise buildings have been built or are under construction, and the trend is moving east as six-storey wood frame construction is in the process of being adopted by several provincial codes.
|
Within the next two decades, Toronto expects its population to grow by 500,000; the city’s plan is to accommodate half of these new residents in mid-rise developments. In light of the fact mid-rises—defined as between four and 11 storeys—are still often seen as an uneconomical mode of development, the city’s plan may seem overly ambitious.
|
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.
|
|
|
