Remember that period in the 1980’s and 90’s when TV’s seemed to get bigger and bigger and heavier and heavier?
Sure, the screens got larger, up to 50″, but these gigantic rear projection TV’s were more expensive to purchase and more labor intensive to move.
It seems like that is where we are now with wood frame construction.
Every year, the buildings are getting more and more complex and are using more and more lumber. The buildings are larger, up to 6 storeys, but these conventional framed wood buildings are more expensive to build and more labor intensive to frame.
But in the early 2000’s, the TV industry had a revolution; luckily for all of us, flat screen technology came along to save the day. Suddenly, the 50″ behemoths were replaced with slick, lighter screen TV’s and every year the prices came down. The screens are bigger and brighter, they are cheaper to purchase and easy to move.
And that brings us to today’s construction industry. More and more builders are realizing that mass timber technology and in particular cross laminated timber (CLT) is coming to save the day. Complex and heavy structures can be replaced with slick, more robust structures that are faster to build and easy to frame.
Virtuoso by Adera UBC, Vancouver, BC
Brock Commons Tallwood House, UBC, Vancouver, BC
There is a revolution beginning in how we build our cities. Come join us.
