Okanagan company celebrates record-breaking construction projects

OKANAGAN FALLS – It wasn’t a typical day at work for the staff at Structurlam in Okanagan Falls on Friday. The nearly 200 employees at the laminated wooden beam company have been working hard to build some record-breaking projects, which are now nearing completion.

“For the 16 years I’ve worked here, it’s a big achievement for this company to go this far, it makes me very proud to be a part of it,” said finger joint operator at Structurlam, Darryl Hunter.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "For the 16 years I've worked here, it's a big achievement for this company to go this far, it makes me very proud to be a part of it," said finger joint operator at Structurlam, Darryl Hunter.

Local politicians, Structurlam customers, suppliers, architects and interested members of the public gathered to hear about two projects including the Brock Commons, a student residence building at UBC in Vancouver. The company said it will be the largest wood building in the world.

“The Brock Commons project will be the tallest mass timber contemporary wood building in the world at 18 storey’s and 53 metres tall,” said architect Russel Acton.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The Brock Commons project will be the tallest mass timber contemporary wood building in the world at 18 storey's and 53 metres tall," said architect Russel Acton.

The company is also constructing the Rocky Ridge Recreation Facility in Calgary, which it said will have the largest wood roof in North America.

“It’s been built essentially as a single roof. We wanted to build the structure almost as if it was a tent,” said architect David Edmunds.

The company’s president, Bill Downing, hopes the celebration will also encourage other companies to follow Structurlam’s lead in this more sustainable form of construction.

“Wood is more environmentally friendly than competitive materials such as concrete.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Wood is more environmentally friendly than competitive materials such as concrete."

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The company also outlined details about future projects including condominiums in Vancouver and a hotel expansion at the Penticton Lakeside Resort.

“We are doing 70 high-end, upscale deluxe suits with lake views, just adjacent to the park,” said Elizabeth Cucnik with the Lakeside Resort.

Cucnik said the hotel is using that expansion as a launching pad to break another record.

“A 20 storey tower that will be mainly condominiums, maybe hotel rooms… If we do this, which we are very positive about, it would then be the largest wood tower in the world,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "A 20 storey tower that will be mainly condominiums, maybe hotel rooms… If we do this, which we are very positive about, it would then be the largest wood tower in the world," she said.

That project, still in the very early stages, is one of many mass timber projects on the horizon for Structurlam. While there is no word on the timeline for the Lakeside Resort’s condominium tower, its 70 room expansion is slated to be completed by next summer.

The Brock Commons student residence building at UBC is slated to be completed by spring of next year and the Rocky Ridge Recreation Centre in Calgary is scheduled to be done by fall of 2017.