Limberlost Place – A Slab Banded Timber Structure

Hybrid event

This conference is presented in hybrid mode. You have the choice to attend in person at the ÉTS or online.

General information

This conference will be presented in English. Cette conférence sera présentée en Anglais.

The content of the conference (PowerPoint) cannot be shared with participants after the conference.

Description of the conference

Limberlost Place (previously known as “The Arbour”) is a groundbreaking mass timber project, situated on George Brown College’s waterfront campus in Toronto, Canada. Rising 10 storeys and covering an impressive 16,000 square meters, the building will serve as a pivotal educational center, housing the Tall Wood Research Institute, a childcare facility, and various teaching and social spaces.

At its heart lies an innovative slab-band structural floor system, which integrates cross-laminated timber (CLT) concrete composite slab bands supported by glulam columns. This innovative structural design not only provides flexibility in architectural planning but also enables the efficient distribution of mechanical systems within the building.

The project’s realization was made possible through external funding, primarily from the National Re-sources Canada Green Construction Wood Program (GCWood), in conjunction with strategic partnerships aimed at fostering mass timber innovation tailored to project unique requirements. This collaboration prompted an extensive structural testing program at the University of Northern British Columbia, focused on evaluating timber concrete composite slab bands and developing cost-effective composite connectors. The research phase involved comprehensive investigations of full-scale and half-scale cross-laminated timber (CLT)-concrete-composite (TCC) slab bands, with a keen focus on assessing their out-of-plane shear and ultimate flexural capacities utilizing a range of shear connectors. Three shear flow connectors were evaluated during the testing, including self-tapping screws, steel kerf plates, and proprietary glued-in Holz-Beton-Verbund (HBV) connectors.

This presentation will provide an overview of the building, with a specific structural engineering focus, and dive deep into the results of the timber-concrete-composite testing program.

Legal

Speakers invited by the “Montreal Structural Engineer” (hereinafter MSE) are fully responsible for their presentation and content. The content of the presentation involve only the speaker. Information communicated at MSE conferences is provided without warranty and reflect the opinions of the speaker only. “Montreal Structural Engineer” cannot be held responsible for any error, inaccuracy or omission related to the information broadcast during its conferences. Finally, MSE cannot be held responsible for the non-compliance in the transcription of extracts of norm, law or regulation reproduced or summarized. These excerpts are present to facilitate explanations and do not have the force of law. Any interpretation of norm, law or regulation must be made from official publications.