The winner of an international design competition, The $130M Arbour will be a 10-storey, 16,250 square-meter, exposed tall wood structure located on George Brown College’s waterfront campus in Toronto. The project will serve as an educational hub for George Brown College, housing a Tall Wood Research Institute and a child care center in addition to a significant amount of teaching and social spaces. The project is currently in design and testing, with construction slated to begin in 2021.

Project Essentials

  • LocationToronto, ON
  • ClientGeorge Brown College
  • ArchitectMoriyama & Teshima Architects and Acton Ostry Architects,
  • Size174,913 ft2 (16,250 m2)
  • BudgetC$130 million

Working in collaboration with Moriyama & Teshima Architects and Acton Ostry Architects, Fast + Epp developed an innovative large span beamless structural system that is comprised of timber-concrete-composite CLT slab bands with perpendicular CLT infill panels, all supported on glulam columns. This long span flat plate system allows for flexibility in architectural programming and unobstructed mechanical distribution.

As the first building of its kind in Ontario, The Arbour will be an important step in the development of large span mass wood structures.