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773 Limberlost Place: Inside Canada’s First Institutional Mass Timber Tower
The plastic wrap is coming off the furniture, the final cleaning is being done, the monitors are plugged in and ready to be turned on: everything is in order for the much-anticipated occupancy of George Brown College‘s Limberlost Place. The innovative 10-storey mass timber tower is a collection of firsts for the college, the city, and even the country. Sitting proudly on George Brown’s waterfront campus, the building is loaded with sustainable design moves and boasts net-zero carbon emissions, a LEED Gold certification, and compliance with the Toronto Green Standard Tier 4. Most notably, it sets an important precedent as the first institutional mass timber tower in Canada.
UrbanToronto joined a building tour to get a first look at the interiors, which was organized by ULI Toronto and led by Nerys Rau, Project Director at George Brown College; Carol Phillips, Partner at Moriyama Teshima Architects; Phil Silverstein, Principal at Moriyama Teshima Architects; and Mike Love, Superintendent at PCL.
Limberlost Place is designed by Moriyama Teshima Architects in partnership with Vancouver-based firm Acton Ostry Architects. The team stressed though that the project was a collective effort between the architects, the engineers (Fast + Epp as structural engineers, Introba for mechanical and electrical), George Brown College, PCL, and the City of Toronto. The building contains a host of innovative sustainable features that required a concerted effort from all parties to turn it into a reality, and with its height and mass timber construction, it required a good working relationship with City staff to comply with current Building Code standards. It will be home to George Brown’s School of Architectural Technology, the Brookfield Sustainability Institute, Mary’s Place Child Care Centre, and overflow space for the College’s Health Sciences programs in the building next door.
The most striking aspect of the building is the quantity of exposed wood that is visible throughout. There was apparently no limit to the amount of timber that is left exposed as it is all typically treated with fire-retardant products, so the design team opted for roughly 50% of the structure to be exposed. This is complemented by wood wall and ceiling finishes, stair guards, and accents throughout. There is no mistaking that this building is a showcase for the versatility of wood construction.
Beginning from the ground floor, a continuous flow of public spaces and feature stairs entices occupants into the heart of the building all the way up to the fifth floor. The ground floor is home to the Learning Landscape, a three-storey space with a stepped terrace staircase that can be used as a casual gathering space or a place to host lectures and events.
Balconies on the west and south sides overlook the space below and provide a variety of views and experiences of the room. The east and north looks out onto the adjacent streets with towering glulam columns, one of which the design team believes may have been the largest glulam column in the world.
At the top of the Learning Landscape, a smaller lounge and study area is located with another stair leading up to a third floor public space. The design team offered a diversity of large, open common areas and smaller, cozier common spaces throughout the building so students can find a space that they are most comfortable in, particularly taking into account accessibility and the needs of neurodivergent occupants.
From the third floor space, users are treated to an open stair located in the middle of the floor plate fully wrapped in wood guards that leads up to the fifth floor. The feature staircase was designed as a unique space that beckons users to take the longer, adventurous route through the building rather than huddling in an elevator, and the design team claims that it works: designing bold, visually-pleasing spaces engages users without realizing they are climbing multiple flights of stairs.
From the fifth floor, a bridge crosses over Dockside Drive to the college’s existing campus building to the south. The bridge features exposed truss beams, extending the language of structural timber outside of the building.
Finally, up on the tenth floor, a large event space takes advantage of the sloped roof to create a unique space with a skyline view. The south wall of the event space features sliding glass doors that look down into the office spaces below, their primary purpose being to facilitate natural air flow and ventilation through the building. As with the rest of the tower, exposed wood features prominently in this room.
There are numerous sustainability features of the building that are innovative for Toronto. The east and west facades have what are referred to as solar chimneys, an air space between two glass walls with vents at the top and bottom that control air flow. The air within the solar chimney is heated by the sun creating an upward draft through the chimney, which, when the chimneys are opened, can be used to draw air through the building and facilitate natural ventilation.
Double-height spaces, referred to as ‘breathing rooms’ are located at the east and west ends of each level with windows opening into the solar chimneys to allow a continuous flow of air throughout the building, while also creating unique gathering spaces for students.
The building ventilation is fully automated with motorized operable windows in all public areas and manually operated windows in the classrooms and smaller offices. Thermostats and screens throughout the building are programmed to notify users when windows should be opened and closed in response to the outdoor temperature and humidity. This automation ties into the solar chimneys, fully taking advantage of passive ventilation strategies. The design team estimates that the building can be climate-controlled by natural ventilation roughly 50% of the year.
In an effort to maximize flexibility of the space and reduce energy consumption, the design team also did away with a centralized heating and cooling system, instead installing two ERVs on each floor. Instead of ductwork snaking through the building, air is instead pumped into the plenum space below the raised floor on each level. Sensors detect when a room is occupied, which then automatically opens the vents in the floor and provides air flow into the rooms. The lack of a penthouse mechanical room allowed for unique spaces like the tenth floor event hall, and the lack of ductwork allows for much of the timber structure to remain exposed and uncluttered.
The structure of the floor slabs is simple, consisting of 7-ply CLT panels, a layer of acoustic material, and a thin topping of concrete. Above that, a raised floor hides most mechanical and electrical services from view. The slabs do not require any beams for support, with just a slight thickening at the columns. This allows the CLT to be exposed on its underside with very few interruptions or obstacles for service lines to navigate.
It was clear that George Brown College and the design team are excited to see the building occupied and in full use. The project sets a precedent for campus- and city-wide sustainability initiatives, and is a case study in the use of mass timber construction for building occupancies beyond office and residential uses. Limberlost Place is one of the first of hopefully many mass timber institutional buildings to come.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on Limberlost Place and mass timber construction across the city, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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UrbanToronto has a research service, UTPro, that provides comprehensive data on development projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe — from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.
