Innovative CLT Gravity and Lateral Systems for Vancouver School Projects

This paper presents innovative uses of cross-laminated timber (CLT) as part of the gravity and lateral force resisting systems for two school projects in Vancouver, the Sir Matthew Begbie and Bayview Elementary Schools. Natural Resources Canada Green Construction through Wood (GCWood) program supported the project construction and coordination costs associated with innovative mass timber construction. The two-storey school buildings will provide classrooms, teaching areas, gymnasium, as well as a learning center with exposed CLT walls, floors, and roof throughout; CLT walls are used for both gravity and lateral resistance in the building. At the upper storeys, hybrid steel-CLT storey-depth beams avoid intrusive drop beams below the floor. Long windows are framed with CLT panels acting as lintels. Both projects include long-span floor systems for which both deflection and vibration requirements fell outside the feasible range for CLT panels commercially available in North America; therefore, a ribbed CLT-glulam composite floor is utilized. In this paper, the innovative use of CLT includes long span composite CLT-glulam floor and roof systems, balloon-framed shear walls, and the use of concentrically and eccentrically loaded CLT lintels are discussed, focusing on the Sir Matthew Begbie Elementary School.