Softwood Forest Products Buyer

 
 
 

Feature Story

 

The six-story Fondaction commercial structure, which features heavy timber frame construction designed and provided by Nordic Structures, is the first of its kind built in Canada.

Six Story Wooden High Rise Has Heads Turning

 By Jean-Marc Dubois

Montreal, Que.¡ªThe construction of the Fondaction office building in the heart of Quebec City is generating more than passing local interest. The six story commercial structure featuring heavy timber frame construction designed and provided by Nordic Structures, is the first of its kind built in Canada. Made of Black Spruce glue laminated beams, columns and decking, the unique construction technology featured in this project is paving the way for similar alternative building projects across North America.

While wood frame construction has been limited by code to four stories in the past, designing the building with heavy timbers assured local building officials that while structurally equal to steel and concrete construction that is the norm for commercial construction, heavy wood timber construction offers superior fire resistance, acoustic properties and insulation values. An additional bonus for this LEED Gold project is the encapsulation of over 1 million pounds of carbon, locked into the wood for the life of the structure.

Nordic¡¯s Enviro¡ÔLam used here in the construction of a sports complex. This soccer stadium features 210-foot clearspan glulam arches.

Enviro¡ÔLam, a unique small-block layup process exclusive to Nordic Engineered Wood, is evident in all the glulam components comprising the structure. ¡°The Black Spruce trees we harvest take 90 years to achieve maturity, yet still only average 4-1/2¡± in diameter over their 70¡¯ length,¡± explained Albert Renaud, vice president of Nordic Engineered Wood. ¡°It is essential that we utilize all the tree, including the tips, if we are going to extract all the value that is locked in the fiber. Enviro¡ÔLam allows us to get 18 percent more fiber yield than traditionally possible, making it one of the greenest building materials out there.¡±

Nordic harvests on 2,000,000 acres of land in northern Quebec, an area comparable to the state of Connecticut, with extreme attention to the environment. In addition to its ISO 14001 Environmental Reforestation certification, Nordic obtained its forestry certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in February 2009, the first privately held Eastern White Pine (EWP) manufacturer to do so. Nordic harvests roughly 1 percent of this boreal forest annually, ensuring a sustainable source of wood for future generations. Nordic Engineered Wood manufactures the components in Chibougamau, Que., where it recently completed a $12 million mill expansion featuring state of the art milling and finishing equipment dedicated to its glulam structures projects.

More Products in Development

Made of Black Spruce glue laminated beams, columns and decking, the unique construction technology featured in this project is paving the way for similar alternative building projects across North America.

In addition to redefining glulam technology with its Enviro¡ÔLam process, Nordic is currently developing X¡ÔLam, a cross-laminated timber panel, which offers additional benefits for commercial construction. While similar to the decking used in the Fondaction building, X¡Ôlam will allow for greater clearspan floor applications in commercial structures, as well as load bearing walls where lateral resistance to shear is critical. Lighter and easier to work with than steel or concrete, Cross Laminated Timbers (CLT) enhance wood¡¯s superior resistance to seismic conditions, making them an ideal building material for construction in earthquake prone areas. CLT¡¯s are used extensively in Europe, where commercial wood construction in excess of nine stories is now becoming commonplace. Builders find the lighter weight and workability of CLTs reduce build times and construction costs. Julie Frappier, P. Eng., the director of technical services for Nordic Engineered Wood, is a member  of the Engineered Wood Association¡¯s (APA) Standards Committee on CLT, which held its first meeting on March 11, 2010. Frappier is working with the APA to create the design standard for CLT¡¯s.

For more information visit www.nordicewp.com or call (866) 817-3418.

The interior construction of the Fondaction building.








Enviro¡ÔLam, a unique small-block lay-up process exclusive to Nordic Engineered Wood, is evident in all the glulam components comprising the structure.









A Nordic logging truck headed to a mill with approximately 900 Black Spruce logs. Nordic has constructed numerous bridges for its own forestry operations and recently completed its first wooden Provincial highway bridge project geared for public use.

 

 

 
 
 
     
 
 

Home | Contact Us | Publications | Company Search | Advertising

© Copyright Miller Wood Trade Publications
No part may be reproduced without special permission

Site Designed and Managed by Pinpoint Web