The final mass timber panel has been installed at Adera Development Group’s Virtuoso project in UBC’s Wesbrook Village, marking a key milestone in its construction. The historic development is the first market condominium project built using mass timber, specifically CrossLam Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) panels supplied by Structurlam Products LP.

Virtuoso is a luxury condominium featuring signature West Coast Modern architecture. The residences surround a central Zen garden and feature up to 850 square feet of private outdoor space and a large rooftop patio.

The use of mass timber on this project provides it with a sustainable advantage, as mass timber provides legitimate fire resistance, outperforms concrete in seismic conditions and is a superior renewable building resources. Mass timber also reduces the amount of airborne and impact sounds between attached homes, which complements Adera’s Quiet Home technology.

In mass timber projects, prefabricated panels arrive on site already ready to install, producing less waste on site. Each floor at Virtuoso consists of about 160 CLT panels, which were lifted at a rate of one panel every 12 minutes. Seagate Structures, Adera’s partner in the framing of the building, worked at a high speed, installing 4,500 square feet of flooring in less than three hours.

Adera was recently recognized with the Design Excellence Award at the 2017 Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) National Awards for Housing Excellence. The company is vocal about its commitment to sustainability and architectural excellence. Moving onto luxury wood construction seemed a natural next step for Adera, which previously completed nine REAP (Residential Environmental Assessment Program) certified projects in the UBC area.