The Winning Project: ‘Historical Tall Wood Toronto’, undertaken in collaboration with the Mass Timber Institute at the University of Toronto.
JURY COMMENT
The jury found this project to be of significant interest, with its analysis of buildings from the late 19th and the 20th centuries in Toronto that are examples of the vernacular timber mill construction common in urban environments from that era across Canada. Considering that this type of building is recognized as a precursor to the current technology of mass timber construction, the examination of the characteristics of the heritage examples is timely: the analysis of some of these characteristics such as the durability and resiliency of these buildings could lead to practical applications and inform contemporary methods of construction and development.
The bursary from the RAIC Foundation will provide the additional funding required to complete the digital publication of the bank of information gathered during the research, thus allowing this data to be easily accessible. This will be useful to professionals of the design and construction industries by providing them detailed information about 42 heritage heavy timber buildings highlighting their resilience strategies. It will also be available to public audiences interested in resilient city building and mass timber construction, thus contributing to public education about architecture.