The annual WoodWORKS! International Wood Symposium this year is all about tall towers. Towers constructed from timbers, that is.

Among the themes: Who is building them, what are the latest materials and techniques and how are developers getting them built in a sector still geared toward concrete and steel?

Designers of the world’s tallest timber tower (for now), the 14-storey, 52.5-metre-tall Treet building in Bergen, Norway, attended this year’s edition, sharing their experience and passing the torch to the most prominent project in British Columbia, the 18-storey, 53-metre Brock Commons student residence at the University of B.C.

The Sun caught up with both groups — architects Russell Acton and Christoph Dunser with Brock Commons and project director Ole Herbrand Kleppe and engineer Rune Abrahemsen with Treet — during the symposium at the Vancouver Convention Centre to talk about how they are advancing the cause of tall wood buildings.

The following is an edited and condensed excerpt from those conversations.

Q: Mass-timber construction is still relatively new in North America. What made you want to be part of the Brock Commons project?

A: (Russell Acton, Acton Ostry Architects) What we found interesting about the project was that UBC was approaching it in a very practical, straightforward way. It wasn’t (like) so many wood projects around the world, a showcase project. UBC was very interested in, ‘Can we construct a mass-wood building similar in cost to concrete or steel?’ That was the challenge, and the answer was yes.

A: (Christoph Dunser, Hermann Kaufmann ZT GmbH) It’s not a (flashy) building, the most important thing in the world. But it has an impact, on the (construction) market, on the economy, ecologically.

Q: How important a project do you think it is?

A: (Dunser) I think it’s very important, because if you can deliver a good solution, it’s going to be promotive for future development. You have to make some compromises to fit the market, but in the end (conditions) will improve because minds will change a little bit.

A: (Acton) All we need after that is to get mass wood into the building code. It won’t be the next (edition) but the one after that, and then this project will have demonstrated to builders that (building with mass-timber methods) is very straightforward (and) economical, particularly when we get more supply (of materials) in the industry. And over time we need to build up the industry for prefabrication. That’s again going to lower prices.

Q: With the Brock Commons project, what has been your biggest obstacle?

A: (Acton) I don’t really consider there to have been obstacles. I would say the biggest challenge was getting approval to build the project. It’s permitted, in a roundabout way. You have to go through a process to demonstrate that it’s as safe as if it were built from concrete or steel. To the government’s credit, they really worked collaboratively and proactively to make that approval happen.

Q: As we look forward, what are the limits going to be for building with mass timber?

A: (Acton) I think the sweet spot is going to be, (as Robert Malczyk) said in his presentation, probably four storeys to eight, 10 storeys. There is a huge amount of demand for that kind of project and the structural systems would be perfect for that. Then some might choose to go higher.