Mass Timber Market Updates - June 2025 - Week TwentyTwo

The world of mass timber construction continues to evolve at breathtaking speed, with groundbreaking projects reshaping our built environment. This week, we journey across North America and the UK to spotlight remarkable structures that showcase the versatility, sustainability, and sheer beauty of engineered wood.

Vancouver's stunning 10-story Hive office building stands as a testament to mass timber's artistic potential, with Dialog's design featuring intricate connection systems that blend form and function seamlessly. The structure exemplifies how commercial buildings can become architectural showcases while meeting rigorous performance standards. Meanwhile, sustainability champion Kevin McLeod of Grand Designs UK brings his expertise to the Built by Nature Prize 2025, elevating recognition for excellence in sustainable construction.

We challenge conventional thinking with insights from TYLin Justin, who argues that retrofitting existing structures often trumps new mass timber construction from a sustainability perspective. His concept of "hybrid, optimized buildings" offers a thoughtful middle path that embraces circular economy principles. Across the pond, Aberdeen's £29 million River Bank School demonstrates mass timber's ability to serve complex institutional needs while slashing carbon emissions by an impressive 2,510 tons compared to conventional methods.

Quebec celebrates a milestone with La Pache Town Hall becoming the province's first Passive House Certified institutional building, showcasing how mass timber elements like glulam, CLT, and western red cedar create biophilic spaces that harness natural light and solar gain. And in Toronto, an innovative 78-unit affordable housing development will rise in just 6-8 weeks using CLT—dramatically faster than the 6-7 months required for traditional concrete construction, proving that mass timber can simultaneously address housing needs and climate concerns.

Join our growing community of mass timber enthusiasts by liking, sharing and subscribing to the podcast. Your support helps us continue bringing you the latest developments in this revolutionary construction approach that's reshaping our world, one wooden building at a time.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ladies and gentlemen, we are live.
This is the moment you all havebeen waiting for.
It's time for the globalsensation, the one, the only,

(00:28):
the undisputed heavyweightpodcast in the world the Mass
Timber Construction Podcast.
And now here's Paul Kramer,your host.

(00:48):
Good morning, good afternoon orgood evening wherever you are
in the world today, welcome tothe Mass Team Construction
Podcast.
My name is Paul Kramer, yourhost.
Welcome to another excitingepisode of the podcast.
It is the middle of winter here.
I hope it's really warm in thesouthern hemisphere.
It's in June now and the sunshould be shining, as it is not

(01:08):
for us here in the southernhemisphere, but certainly we're
keeping warm and there's lots ofreally good news to warm the
cockles of your heart.
Let's have a look at what'smaking news around the world
this week in Mass TimberConstruction Land land, and
Andrea Newton has posted on ourLinkedIn feed that she had the

(01:30):
opportunity to go to the hive at2150 Keith Drive in Vancouver,
bc, to have a look at the10-story office building
designed by Dialogue.
The project is a stunning pieceof artwork as well as a
building that is purpose built.
It is impressive and you shouldgo and have a look at the
intricate details within all ofthe connection systems and the

(01:51):
structural systems within thisbuilding.
The Hive is a standout projectby Dialog and you should have a
look at it on our LinkedIn feed.
And we found out this week thatthe host of Grand Designs UK,
kevin MacLeod, has joined thejudging panel for the Built by
Nature Prize for 2025.

(02:11):
The prize portal is open andwill remain open until Sunday,
june 8.
If you're interested, pleaseget your entries in, and
congratulations to Built byNature for getting Kevin mcleod
to come on as a judge.
One of my favorite posts for theweek has been an episode on

(02:32):
structural design andengineering for hyper optimized
buildings and looking at thesmartest choices for why we
should save old structures thatcan be the most sustainable,
because, as we know, the mostsustainable building is a
building we do not have to buildusing another building.
Retrofitting another building,stripping the building back to

(02:55):
its base build, adapting,adopting and adjusting to suit
our needs, and then reparatingthat building and making it new
again, is a really good way toembody circular economy
principles.
So Justin Denhader, who's aprincipal engineer at TY Lynn.
He shares his views on that ina video that we've posted on our

(03:19):
LinkedIn feed.
So if you'd like to go andlearn about why you should use
existing buildings, why usingmass timber buildings is not the
best use of mass timber and howa hybrid, optimized building is
a way to go.
And over to the uk now, and theaberdeen city council has taken
ownership of its 29 milliondollar 29 million pound $29

(03:44):
million New River Bank School.
Over to the UK now, and theAberdeen City Council has taken
ownership of its £29 million NewRiver Bank School, built using
CLT by Robertson ConstructionEastern.
The 6,784 square metrethree-stream school provides

(04:07):
high-quality learningenvironment with up to 651
primary age pupils or students,alongside early learning and
nursery provision for up to 60students.
The facilities include a gymhall, dance studio, dining hall,
staff and administration areas.
Robertson led the constructionphase for the two-story building
, including its design,engineering and build with the

(04:29):
frame using CLT.
The use of CLT delivered a2,510 ton carbon dioxide
equivalent reduction in embodiedcarbon in the project, placing
it in the sector leading ofexample of low carbon design.
The school has a draft energyperformance rating of a, which

(04:52):
might mean something to thosepeople who are existing in the
uk.
Congratulations to the entireteam on this amazing project and
I I hope I pronounced this namecorrectly, but La Pache Town
Hall has become the firstPassive House Certified
Institutional Building in Quebec, canada.
The new hall is built, producedusing mass timber, using highly

(05:16):
efficient building materialsand soon became the first
Passive House InstitutionalBuilding in Quebec.
Rectangular in shape andlocated on the east-west axis,
the building was by BGLAArchitecture and Urban Design
and features a long facade whichfaces a southerly direction
onto the main road.

(05:36):
The facade offers views of thehills, the local park and using
natural solar gain to serve thebuilding's primary heating
source.
The presence of wood insidefeels like it is an incredible
biophilic experience, withcladding and facade elements,

(05:56):
the glulam, the clt and westernwedge cedar sitting inside.
That the mechanical systems arefully integrated and the
sloping sections in the roof isit's a sawtooth roof and allows
light to come in from theoutside.
If you want to have a look atthese impressive photos of this
impressive building, please headto our LinkedIn feed.

(06:16):
And heading to Toronto, canada.
Now.
And the CLT superstructure forthe former Kingston market,
which will house a 78 unitaffordable housing project, is
set to rise this summer.
Produced from cross-laminatedtimber, including an elevator
core, it's designed byMontgomery Sassam Architects and

(06:40):
they chose CLT superstructurefloors, roofs, exterior walls
partly because it was erected bya single trade in six to eight
weeks rather than six to sevenmonths and conventional concrete
construction because of itssustainability benefits and
while dealing with climatecrisis, they have opted to have

(07:02):
a construction operation of thebuildings that sits in a lower
emissions category.
The Gillum Group is designer ofthe building, and the building
is at Bellevue Avenue, and CLTwill be supplied by Element 5.
So that's it, folks.
That's all we've got time forin mass timber construction land
this week.
We hope you have a great week.

(07:22):
Please don't forget to like,share, subscribe or react to our
comment.
We really do appreciate yourfeedback and support and we'll
catch up with you next week.
Good morning, good afternoon orgood evening, wherever you are
in the world.
Today, this is paul kramersigning off on the mass Team
Construction Podcast.
Thank you, bye.