Amid the traditional concrete and glass structures at Toronto’s East Bayfront, Limberlost Place – a striking mass-timber beauty and the new addition to George Brown College’s waterfront campus – stands out.
Located at Queens Quay East and Dockside Drive, the 10-storey, net-zero emissions structure is the first institutional building of its kind in Ontario. Set for a soft opening in January, 2025, the exposed tall wood building has already won more than two-dozen design and sustainability awards, including a Research & Innovation in Architecture Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and a 2024 LOOP Design Award in the Eco & Sustainable Concept category.
Limberlost Place pushes boundaries and sets a new standard for what is possible for mass-timber commercial construction. According to George Brown College, the internationally-acclaimed, award-winning building is expected to contribute to major changes to national and provincial building codes. For example, in April, 2024, the Ontario government announced plans to amend its building code to allow the construction of mass-timber buildings of up to 18 storeys. Prior to Limberlost Place, the maximum storeys for a tall wood building in Ontario was six, says Moriyama Teshima Architects, one of the firms that worked on the project.
“Over the last 10 to 15 years, mass timber has moved from a nascent, bubbling industry to a real and reliable option for designers,” says Robert Jackson, partner at Fast + Epp, the structural engineering design firm that worked on Limberlost Place with Acton Ostry Architects and Moriyama Teshima Architects.
