An ambitious new timber tower in Toronto, Canada, is due to begin construction soon. Thanks to its innovative prefabricated wooden design, the residential building named 230 Royal York is expected to rise in a mere 90 days.
230 Royal York will actually be the tallest mass timber residential building in Toronto. We've no word on its exact height yet, but, to be clear, this is a modestly proportioned low-rise structure with a height of approximately 30 m (almost 100 ft), not some crazy supertall.
Its interior will include nine floors and 58 residences, and the renders depict some outdoor terrace areas and greenery on the roof.
Structurally, it will feature a concrete core and will primarily consist of sustainably produced mass timber, such as glulam (glued laminated timber) and CLT (cross-laminated timber), which can outperform steel in a fire. It's currently being prefabricated by Intelligent City in a warehouse that makes use of automation and AI technology. Then, when it's time for it to rise, the parts will be shipped to the site and go up remarkably quickly, helping to reduce the disruption of neighboring homes.
"Using advanced automation, including industrial robots and AI to process and assemble building parts on the production line, the company is driving innovation in industrialized construction processes," explains Intelligent City. "This development is a true demonstration of the power of prefabricated construction and sustainable materials reshaping the future of housing. By moving work from on-site to off-site, this approach can cut the construction time by three to four months."
230 Royal York is due to begin rising in May. It's being developed by Windmill Developments and Leader Lane Developments. Other project partners include Oben Build, Lang Wilson Practice in Architecture Culture Inc, and Moses Structural Engineers.
The project joins a remarkable number of timber towers being built in North America at the moment, including the new world's tallest in Milwaukee.
Source: Intelligent City
