Greetings from your WoodWorks news team. First up, Tukutuku AUT’s new building has been recognised at the Architecture Awards in Auckland. In Pāpāmoa, Summerhill Charitable Trust is set to open a new community building designed by University of Auckland student Leith Macfarlane. The FTMA conference will be held in the heart of New Zealand’s wood processing industry, Rotorua, from 16–18 July 2025. In Toronto, T3 Sterling Road is a landmark development consisting of one 6-storey and one 8-storey building. Then we have another Toronto project, the University of Toronto’s 14-story Academic Wood Tower, a hybrid mass timber and steel structure including 350 tonnes of steel diaphragm bracing to handle lateral loads. Finally Steffen Franke will be keynote speaker at the International Conference on Timber Bridges in Rotorua in June.

Beca’s 5 storey timber seismically resilient structure was recently recognised at the Architecture Awards in Auckland. Tukutuku, the new building for AUT was designed with Jasmax and built by Naylor Love. Post tensioned LVL frames which allow the structure to move in an earthquake, cost effective stress skin, Potius flooring units and timber braces all come together to create an innovative structural solution.

A new “community base” is set to open in Pāpāmoa, marking a “huge step forward” for the Summerhill Charitable Trust. It was designed by University of Auckland architecture student Leith Macfarlane. The design features included large, cross-braced cassette walls which are “stuffed with wool” – some of which was from sheep shorn “next door”.

The FTMA conference will be held in the heart of New Zealand’s wood processing industry, Rotorua, from 16–18 July 2025. New Zealand appears to be at a crossroads regarding residential construction. We want more homes built faster and at lower cost. We also need robust and comfortable homes that serve our modern lifestyles and aspirations.  As home occupants, owners or investors we want to see better value in our homes in the form of lower build costs, lower operating costs and easier maintenance. How can we achieve most or all of these objectives?

T3 Sterling Road is a landmark development in Toronto’s Junction Triangle. Consisting of one 6-storey and one 8-storey building, the mass timber portion of the campus reaches heights of 130 ft (40m) across 310,000 sf. of timber office and amenity spaces. The structure uses DLT floor and roof panels, supported by glulam post and beam framing. Steel brace frames act as the lateral system. The 8” DLT floor panels efficiently spanned up to 22’, also meeting the 2-hr FRR requirements.

Construction is underway on the University of Toronto’s 14-story Academic Wood Tower, a hybrid mass timber and steel structure. It is being built on top of the occupied Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, within a heavily trafficked university campus. To address structural challenges, the building will feature 350 tonnes of steel diaphragm bracing to handle lateral loads. Eleven welded flange girders, some reaching two meters deep, will provide support.

Finally Steffen Franke will be keynote speaker at the International Conference on Timber Bridges in Rotorua in June. His presentation will be on long-span timber highway bridges as a contribution to global decarbonization.