BILD Low-Rise Forum: Can Building Mid-Rise be Affordable?
By Lucas on Sep 26, 2013
On Sept. 25, we attended the BILD Low-Rise Forum, which focused on building affordable mid-rise residential buildings. The expert panel, moderated by Gerard Caverson of VANDYK Group of Companies, consisted of President of N. Barry Lyon & Associates- Barry Lyon, Technical Director at Ontario Wood WORKS!- Raymond Van Groll, Partner at CB Ross Partners- Kirk Mawhinney, and Design Director & Associate of Quadrangle Architects- Marco VanderMaas. They discussed the factors that play into mid-rise construction and how the industry should approach it moving forward.
Barry Lyon was the first to speak. As you may know, Lyon has been promoting wood construction for mid-rise buildings for a number of years. He even helped produce a report called the “Wood Use Impact Study,” which was used as ammo to suggest that increasing the maximum height of wood construction buildings from four to six storeys is the solution to building affordable mid-rise.
According to Lyon, compared to concrete, building a six-storey condo with wood would save a homebuilder one-third the time and 8-12% of the cost. He believes that the days of the high-rise design are over for the time being, and that the new “sweet spot” for condo development is a building with 100 to 150 units. In the words of Lyon, “If you want to survive, you better get involved in mid-rise development.”
Next, Stephen Street discussed the safety issues involved with wood construction. The main and obvious issue is the chance of fire. Street mentioned a wood frame condo in British Columbia that burned down during construction a few years ago. A devastating fire is definitely a possibility, but Street believes that if the proper precautions are taken, then six-storey wood frame condos shouldn’t be an issue.
Kirk Mawhinney offered a unique perspective of the wood construction method. He is a consultant who provides project monitoring and cost consulting services, and from his standpoint, wood construction isn’t necessarily the money saver that it seems to be. Mawhinney agrees with Lyon, saying that an 8-10% cost saving is accurate, but the differential is narrowing as wood becomes more expensive. You also have to take into consideration the different technologies used and the time it takes to teach workers new building strategies. Another major factor is insurance. Because of the extra risk of fire, insurance on a mid-rise wood frame building could range anywhere from $300,000 to $400,000. Basically, there are a lot of extra things to consider before building a wood frame condo. You need to have all your ducks in a row before putting a shovel in the ground - or else surprise costs will be popping up every step of the way.
Raymond Van Groll also discussed why wood construction isn’t as cheap as it seems. One of the most interesting things that he pointed out was the amount of extra safety features needed for fire separation systems between units. Groll said that he uses light gauge metal to frame his buildings, and fire separation between units is easily done, but with wood frames, a whole bunch of other material is needed to make that separation efficient. And, if it’s not efficient, you can end up with a whole building burned to the ground as opposed to a single unit. The extra steps to prepare a proper fire separation with wood takes a lot of time and material, and it’s a cost that is often overlooked.
Marco VanderMaas also seems to believe that mid-rise is the way of the future, saying that opportunities for development are all over the Greater Toronto area. One point that VanderMaas made was that prefabrication is a more feasible option with wood construction. Because wood is lighter than concrete, sections of condos can be made in a factory or warehouse and then get transported to the site. This could speed up construction times and perhaps create a safer environment for workers. For VanderMaas, the approach to mid-rise condos is in need of innovation, and Quadrangle Architects seems to be slightly ahead of the curve.
Gerard Caverson had a few opinions of his own. He explained that he is leaning more towards the use of concrete because of the narrowing differential between costs. Caverson said that mid-rise condos are usually infill developments, and appeal to first-time homebuyers and empty nesters. Since this is the case, these kinds of developments are very important to those looking to continue living in their neighbourhood, and it’s the developer’s responsibility to make sure that they are enhancing that specific community.
We are excited to see if the condo market sees an influx of mid-rises in the near future, wood or otherwise. What do you think will happen? Should six-storey wood cosntruction be allowed?
