This 4-storey, 41-unit, 23,000 sq. ft. multi-residential, supportive housing building for the YWCA, provides a safe and secure place for women who have experienced homelessness.
The structure is made entirely out of mass timber, including floors, demising walls, roof, elevator shafts, stairwells and exterior walls. Each unit has exposed mass timber, imparting a sense of warmth and well-being.
The project received funding from the Canadian Federal Government’s Rapid Housing Initiative (which requires that design, approvals and construction be completed within a tight 12-month window), so speed was of the essence.
Element5 worked closely with the architect to design and develop an optimized CLT (cross-laminated timber) grid based on our manufacturing plant’s production specs. Panels were roughly 40 ft long – within the same range as precast hollow-core panels but are 3x times as wide as precast – achievable partly because of the light weight of wood.
Features of the design include:
- Modular construction through mass timber CLT and Glulam prefabrication.
- CLT floors, roof, demising walls between units, exterior walls, elevator shafts and stairwells.
- Glulam beams and columns were used on the ground floor entrance area.
- Exposure of mass timber surfaces inside the building to impart a sense of warmth and well-being.
Manufacturing Efficiencies Helped Drive Down Cost
This optimized design and modular construction approach generated cost savings that enabled the mass timber solution to beat out numerous other ‘affordable’ designs during the bid process. The decision to use prefabricated mass timber components for both the structure and building envelope significantly reduced the construction schedule – the completion of design, approvals AND construction all successfully occurred in 1 year.
Building Fully Assembled in 20 Days
The building itself was fully assembled in just 20 days. On the first day, the mass timber materials arrived on site, then by day 10, the first two floors were assembled, and by day 10, the structure was completed.
This modular delivery method, where building components are factory-built and then rapidly assembled on site, offers cost savings over a strictly site-built project. Based on the success of this project, plans and designs were undertaken for a 2nd building on the same site – YWCA Building 2.
> View the Element5 Affordable Housing Brochure online
> Download Element5 Affordable Housing Brochure [pdf: 35 MB]
Awards Won
- “Sustainable Kitchener Award – 2023“, given to a project that demonstrates innovation and exceptional design with respect to sustainable development, water conservation, energy conservation and generation, air quality, waste reduction and management, supporting active transportation and transit-oriented development.
- 2023 Ontario Wood WORKS! Design Winner – honours design excellence, advocacy, and innovation, are advancing the use of wood in all types of construction.
Media Coverage
- Globe and Mail – Mass timber sets an affordability benchmark, April 20, 2021
- Daily Commercial News – Element5 aims to break through stereotypes about mass timber, May 7, 2021
- Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association – Who Knew? Affordable Housing Grows on Trees, March 21, 2022
- Construct Connect – Mass timber could help solve the housing crisis, says architect, November 20, 2022
