Excavation has begun to make way for Fast + Epp’s new four-storey mass timber home office in Vancouver. The hybrid, mass timber superstructure is scheduled to be erected within 12 days.

After 30 years in their current Kitsilano location, the firm has outgrown its existing office building and has decided to relocate closer to transit to reduce employee commute times.

Located at 7th and Yukon Street in Vancouver near the Broadway/Cambie Skytrain transit nexus, the new, materials-efficient building design will feature: Pre-fabricated, hybrid mass timber and steel superstructure; Electro-chromatic glass – a remote controlled, variable tint glazing system that optimizes shading and reduces energy costs and CLT firewall prefabricated with exterior finishes.

Tectonus is also being used. The earthquake-resistance technology with innovative Resilient Slip Friction Joints effectively dissipates energy and does not require post-event maintenance. Tectonus technology will anchor the CLT shearwalls and will be a first in North America.

The new building is a purpose-built structure that will give the firm more updated space and more flexibility as it continues to grow, explains Paul Fast of Fast + Epp. “The entire Fast + Epp team is really proud of this new office design. It’s allowing us to experiment with features and structure that are at the forefront of what we do as a firm, and gives us the freedom to be practical and thoughtful, yet also adventurous,” he adds.

The anticipated move in is for the spring of 2020. The new facility has been designed collaboratively with F2A Architects (base building) and HCMA (interiors).

Established in 1985, Fast + Epp is an internationally recognized structural engineering firm headquartered in Vancouver. Offices are located in New York, Seattle, Edmonton and Calgary with a strong presence in Europe through its Darmstadt, Germany office, established in 2010.