13 October 2026
Pomerleau is delivering preconstruction, value engineering, design-assist, and construction services for the University of Toronto Academic Wood Tower, a 14-storey, 77-metre hybrid steel-and-timber building set to become Canada’s tallest mass timber structure and accommodate several academic units.
The project required close coordination with the City of Toronto on permitting and code reviews, careful management of the complex cantilever above an existing building, and value engineering to meet the client’s budget, drawing on Pomerleau’s experience completing more than 20 mass timber projects since 2008.
WoodWorks Issue – 13 Oct 2026
Welcome
Greetings from your WoodWorks team. This year’s WoodWorks 2026 will focus on the practical challenges of delivering mass-timber projects in Australasia, including procurement, cost certainty, constructability, prefabrication, fire engineering, adaptive reuse and digital modelling. Sign-up now for the Hastings event on 28-29 October 2026.
Townhouses are rapidly closing the gap with standalone homes in New Zealand, with engineered timber innovations from Prolam and Potius enabling more structurally capable, spacious, cost-effective and efficient multi-unit construction.
Interesting approach to social housing with waste wood exterior cladding; how does that work for meeting building codes? You might need Google Translate to read about this project in Centrumeiland, east of Amsterdam.
Check out University of Toronto’s impressive 14-storey Academic Wood Tower, a hybrid steel-and-timber project set to become Canada’s tallest mass timber structure, delivered by Pomerleau.
13 October 2026
Beyond the drawing board: the practical questions around mass timber
As engineered timber becomes more widely used across Australasia, the industry’s focus is shifting from design possibilities to the harder realities of procurement, cost certainty and getting projects built. The...
13 October 2026
Rethinking townhouse construction with engineered timber
Townhouses are fast closing the gap with standalone houses in New Zealand’s new-build market. According to Stats NZ, 17,230 townhouses, flats and units were consented in the year to May...
13 October 2026
Build together, belong together
Centrumeiland, a reclaimed residential island east of Amsterdam and part of the IJburg expansion, includes social housing built with timber structures and reclaimed-wood façades. Many plots were reserved for private...
13 October 2026
University of Toronto wood tower
Pomerleau is delivering preconstruction, value engineering, design-assist, and construction services for the University of Toronto Academic Wood Tower, a 14-storey, 77-metre hybrid steel-and-timber building set to become Canada’s tallest mass...