Forty-floor timber tower planned

May 27, 2019

Vancouver real estate developer Delta Land Corp. is planning to build the world’s tallest wood tower: a  condo building that could rise to 40 storeys and be built to Passive House standards. If approved, it would be the tallest wood building and the highest Passive House structure in the world.
The tower would be built from mass timber, but the proposal exceeds the recent changes to the B.C. building code that allows for wood buildings of up to 12 floors.
Delta is working with architect Peter Busby on the Canada Earth Tower and intends to set an environmental and engineering standard for wood construction.
The tower would use B.C. manufactured and processed mass timber, as well as engineered wood such as cross-laminated timber, glue-laminated timber and dowel-laminated timber. It would be designed for maximum fire and structural safety, the developer said, while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
Reinforced concrete would still be required for the elevator cores and foundation of the proposed tower, Busby added.