In April, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) officially opened its new, 86,000-square-foot headquarters. The open-concept, four-storey building was built using mass timber — a low-carbon, fire-resistant material.Supplied/Michael Moran
The design and construction of the new headquarters of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is a nod to the agency’s environmental work.
The $56-million structure, which took nine years to complete – partly delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic – officially opened in April. It’s an airy, open-concept, four-storey building that’s 86,000 square feet and made with mass timber – a low-carbon, fire-resistant construction material. The building has space for more than 350 employees, with meeting areas and an emergency operations centre.
“The TRCA building is certainly a conversation starter for mass-timber construction,” says Michael Sugar, director of zero carbon building at the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC), an organization that supports the construction of low-carbon, net-zero structures.
Mass-timber construction is on the uptick in Canada, with a recent report revealing that nearly 700 projects have been completed across the country, while more than 140 are either under construction or in the planning stages.
Nature Resources Canada says mass-timber buildings can meet or exceed fire code safety requirements and they are capable of lasting hundreds of years, proving their resilience and longevity.
Organizational heritage meets modern features
The TRCA was created after Hurricane Hazel devastated Toronto in 1954, resulting in the deaths of 81 people. Its new headquarters are nestled in the northwest part of the city near Toronto’s Black Creek watershed and York University.
“It’s the office where members of the public can go to have planning applications reviewed for building projects within any of the nine watersheds the TRCA oversees within the Greater Toronto Area,” says Alexander Schuler, TRCA’s associate director of property and asset management. “A lot of people submit their projects to us online nowadays, but many still come here, and this is the kind of building that makes people want to show up in person.”
The TRCA and its architects wanted a design that would lead by example, says Andrew Bayne, managing principal of RJC Engineers, the building’s project manager.
“They want the building to express sustainability, environmental stewardship and the work that the agency is responsible for – conservation,” he says. “I don’t think a steel and concrete building, or something just trimmed with a bit of wood, would serve as well as this one.”
Beyond mass timber
The use of mass timber is just one of the TRCA building’s sustainability features, says Marek Zawadzki, senior principal at ZAS Architects + Interiors, the Canadian firm that co-designed the project alongside Bucholz McEvoy Architects, based in Dublin.
The building is designed to meet the highest global standards for sustainability, energy efficiency and occupant well-being, Mr. Zawadzki says. These include the LEED v4 Platinum certification, recognizing the project’s sustainability features; the WELL v2 Gold certification, acknowledging the building’s relationship to occupants’ health and wellness; the Toronto Green Standard Level 2 credential, recognizing the structure’s sustainability design and performance; and the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Standard, which looks at a building’s operational and embodied emissions.
“The Zero Carbon Standard recognizes that the TRCA building actually achieved a 33-per-cent lower carbon emission standard than the average for an uncertified building in 2023. That’s significant,” Mr. Zawadzki says.
When designing the new TRCA headquarters, the architects wanted the design to lead by example and to evoke the themes of sustainability, conservation and environmental stewardship, says one project stakeholder.Supplied/Michael Moran
Andrzej Gortat, principal at ZAS Architects + Interiors, says the structure is an “unconventional, living building, full of natural construction materials that interact with the environment.” While conventional buildings are filled with concrete, Mr. Gortat says the concrete ends on the ground floor, with occupants able to open and close the structure’s windows — something not typically common with office buildings.
Both Mr. Gortat and Mr. Zawadzki say they are particularly proud of the building’s solar chimneys – stacks running the height of the building that regulate airflow by drawing heat from the sun beaming onto the roof during winters, and pulling in cooler air through lower ventilation openings during summers.
“This is ancient technology that was used centuries ago in the desert,” Mr. Zawadzki says, adding the building also uses a geothermal system to heat and cool the property.
Additionally, about 60 per cent of the roof is considered a green roof, with grasses and plants that help insulate the building, adding to its energy efficiency.
A new kind of construction
The architects and the project manager agree that building an unconventional structure such as the TRCA headquarters was not straightforward.
“It was hard to get materials in some cases, and Canada’s building industry is just catching up to this kind of construction,” Mr. Gortat says.
Rather than bringing project stakeholders in at different times, Mr. Bayne of RJC Engineers says the development benefited greatly by having the architects, designers and project manager work together from the beginning.
“Everyone was in on the design from the get-go, so we all knew what we were dealing with and could talk with each other,” he says.
The $56-million building contains meeting rooms, office space for more than 350 employees and an emergency operations centre.Supplied/Michael Moran
Mass timber and occupant wellness
CAGBC’s Mr. Sugar says mass-timber buildings are becoming more common in Canada as planning departments learn more about their energy-saving and carbon-reduction benefits.
“City planners are becoming more supportive, especially in Vancouver and Toronto,” he says.
It is also becoming easier to source made-in-Canada mass timber materials as new suppliers open up to meet growing demand, adds Mr. Bayne. “A lot of the material for this building had to come from overseas because that’s what was available, but that’s changing,” he says.
At a time when many workers are being ordered to return to office, an attractive, eco- and user-friendly building can be motivating for them to show up, TRCA’s Mr. Schuler says.
“It can reduce stress and improve your mood,” he says. “Being sustainable and low carbon really speaks to who we are as an organization.”