BCIT Tall Timber Student Housing Wins CCE Award of Excellence

October 20, 2025

We are honoured to share that the BCIT Tall Timber Student Housing project has received the 2025 CCE Award of Excellence in the Buildings Category. This 12-storey mass timber tower has been recognized for its innovative hybrid structural design and materiality selection. 

Fast + Epp proposed a CLT point-supported structure that uses hem-fir CLT floors supported by steel HSS columns to meet sustainability and architectural goals. The design of encapsulating the steel columns within the demising walls allowed for clean, unobstructed units, and supported the modular architectural layout and prefabricated envelope system. 

The prefabrication of CLT panels significantly reduced on-site assembly time, while an optimized installation schedule on a two-week cycle—one week for floor plate installation, then one for steel column placement, with façade being enclosed two levels below—allowed for the envelope to rise with the structure as the building progressed vertically. Additional time and cost savings were realized through meticulous project planning and early coordination among trades. To minimize crane sharing and streamline the construction of the lateral force-resisting system, a steel concentrically braced frame was used for the stair and elevator cores, and pre-fabricated into 5-and-6-storey lifts, allowing the cores to top out before CLT installation took place.

“Truly innovative in design and material selection for top-tier performance. There was no code of practice-they had to prove themselves.”  – CCE Jury

Fast + Epp is incredibly proud to have contributed to this project, supporting the drive for innovation, and helping to deliver much-needed student housing. Congratulations to the client and the entire project team.