The newly-opened, five-story, 15,000 square-metre Earth Sciences Building at UBC is the largest panelized wood project in North America.
Wood reportedly played a dominant role throughout the $58 million structure:

• Glulam columns and beams provided support
• Laminated strand lumber (LSL), engineered wood product panels and concrete formed the composite floor system
• CLT panels shaped the roof and canopy.

The ‘wow factor’ comes from a “five-storey, free-floating, 12-foot-wide, cantilevered solid timber staircase” – the first of its kind in the world. The building will be featured at BUILDEX Vancouver this week, where Engineer Eric Karsh and architect Jana Foit “will hammer home the benefits of wood construction and how new wood building materials will lead to projects beyond the six-storey limit that exists in B.C. today.”
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