Structurlam Products LP is literally reaching new heights in its latest construction projects.
That includes the 55-metre, 18-floor Brock Common student residence at the University of B.C. which will be the tallest wood structure in the world.
The company is providing the structural components made from its innovative, state-of-the art solid cross laminated timber (CLT) product Crosslam.
“The first two floors are concrete and then 16 floors of wood. Right here in little old Penticton you’ve got some world-class projects going through,” said Structurlam president Bill Downing. “All of it’s B.C. fibre, B.C. labour and it’s really a value-added story. This isn’t two-by -ours being shipped to China.”
Another feather in the company cap is the multi-million-dollar Rocky Ridge recreational centre being constructed in Calgary.
There the local Structurlam plants have been supplying the materials for North America’s largest wood roof.
At its widest point the 27-metre beams, when fastened together, will stretch about 90 metres across.
Described by its architects as “inspired by the hills and ribbon horizon of the foothills region, the soft, curving undulations of the building create an open and integrated facility.”
That translated into just short of an impossibility for those charged with the task of physically putting the pieces in place.
“To see some of this stuff going through the shops is just mind boggling and not easy either, that’s for sure,” said Downing. “There are 2,000 pieces in it and no two are the same, it’s a really complicated roof.”
However true to form, Structurlam’s senior detailers and work crews came together to produce exactly what was required with a margin of error of two millimetres or less per piece.
Another future project a little closer to home is the expansion of the Lakeside Resort.
“I’m really pleased that David (Lakeside general manager David Prystay) went outside the box and decided to use our new cross laminated timber panels,” said Downing. “We have architects and engineers from all the world and I really want to have a local building.”
Structurlam currently employs about 200 people and are hiring. Plans are to make the Okanagan Falls plant a 24-7 operation.
