PCL team reaches key milestone at Limberlost project
PCL and its construction partners are celebrating the achievement of a significant milestone in the construction of Limberlost Place at George Brown College.
The construction team completed the installation of a two-storey mass timber pedestrian bridge at 65 feet above street level and which connects level five of the future home of the college’s school of architecture with level six of the existing Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences.
Installation of the bridge included prefabricating individual cross-laminated timber pieces at an off-site location before being shipped and built on site. After four days of assembly, the team executed a complex and intricate one-day lift to install the structure.
The bridge is more than 21 metres long and is made up of two glue-laminated trusses and four cross-laminated timber panels. The two glulam trusses are made up of 10 pieces each with two truss chords and eight vertical members; the vertical members are connected with 22 steel plates and 241 steel dowels that pin the truss chords and vertical members with the steel connection plates.
Each truss cord weighs approximately 4,250 pounds. The vertical members weigh 640 pounds, and each cross-laminated panel weighs approximately 7840 pounds.
At the point of install, the bridge weighed approximately 31 metric tonnes.
“Thank you to all of our partners, consultants, and extraordinary tradespeople who have been integral in achieving this significant milestone. This accomplishment truly showcases the exemplary level of skill, and patience it takes to ensure everything goes according to plan,” says Myke Badry, PCL Toronto’s district manager. “Congratulations to the entire project team as we move one step closer to the completion of this revolutionary project that is setting a precedent in mass timber construction.”
“It was incredibly exciting to witness the installation of the mass timber pedestrian bridge at Limberlost Place,” says Nerys Rau, GBC’s Project Director for Limberlost Place. “It was really impressive to see the placement done with such methodical precision.”
Designed by Acton Ostry Architects and Moriyama Teshima Architects, Limberlost Place is a tall wood, net zero carbon emissions building and PCL’s largest mass timber project to date.
Home to George Brown College’s School of Architectural Studies, the School of Computer Technology and the Brookfield Sustainability Institute, students will learn in and from this innovative and future-proof facility.
The 10-storey building is GBC’s newest addition to Waterfront Campus; Limberlost Place is expected to be completed by the fall of 2024 and will open for classes in January 2025.Once complete, the facility will harness green energy from the surrounding environment, including Lake Ontario. Two solar chimneys will draw air up and through the building from operable windows. The design also features a 40 percent window-to-wall ratio, and the building will be outfitted with smart daylight sensors and dimming controls.
As a result, Limberlost Place will be able to operate passively 50 percent of the year. It will run with no fuel-fired systems, and a roof-mounted solar array will generate 24 percent of Limberlost Place's energy consumption to offset greenhouse gas emissions generated in the electricity grid.
In addition to PCL, the construction project team includes architects Moriyama Teshima Architects in joint venture with Acton Ostry Architects, mass Timber builders Nordic Structures, structural engineers Fast + Epp, mechanical and electrical engineers Integral Group, structural steel design-assist Walters Group, building envelope consultants Morrison Hershfield, and sustainability consultants Transsolar.