Brock Commons Time Lapse – UBC Tall Wood Building

Brock Commons Phase 1 is an 18-storey hybrid mass timber residence under construction at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The building will be comprised of 17 storeys of mass timber construction above a concrete podium and two concrete stair cores. The floor structure will consist of 5-ply cross laminated timber (CLT) panels supported on glue laminated timber (glulam) columns. The roof will be made of prefabricated sections of steel beams and metal decking.

Brock Commons will have capacity for just over 400 students with floorplans ranging from single bed studios to 4-bed accommodations. Study and social spaces will be located on the ground floor with a student lounge on the 18th floor, where the wood structure will be left exposed for demonstration and educational purposes.

Wood, a renewable material, was chosen in part to reflect the university’s commitment to sustainability. The building was also designed to meet LEED Gold certification.

The estimated avoided and sequestered greenhouse gases from the wood used in the building is equivalent to removing 511 cars off the road for a year. The total carbon dioxide equivalent avoided by using wood products over other materials in the building is more than 2,432 metric tonnes.