ative and come up with brand new solutions,” said Chad Kaldal, project manager, PCL Constructors West Coast Inc, which led the building's construction. “It was a great op- portunity for us to really test the boundaries of wood con- struction.” The 4,821 sq. m. building includes, among other things, 383 CLT (cross laminated timber) panels and 376 glulam beams and columns. Parallel strand lumber (PSL) and lam- inated veneer lumber (LVL) has also been incorporated. The design is also intended to purposely show the in- novative structural design, and not cover it up, allowing people to see the wood structure and unique floor slab system as the actual finish. The underside of the cross- laminated timber floor slab system will be exposed wher- ever possible with the mechanical and electrical infrastructure concealed in the innovative staggered chases within the floor slab. With many arguments against wood construction fo- cused on fire resistance, a fact document about the WIDC directly addresses this. “Fire resistance is provided through a fully engineered approach, rather than the more common encapsulation method,” the document says. “This means that, rather than protecting the wood structure from exposure to fire by covering it with non- combustible material, the wood is left exposed.” The document goes on to explain that mass timber ele- ments char, rather than burn in the presence of flame. “The required structural sections are therefore oversized, and protected by a ‘sacrificial’ layer of wood that will char slowly enough to provide the required fire protection.” Charred western red panels used as exterior cladding provide similar fire resistance because the centuries-old charring process “changes the molecular structure of the skin of the wood cladding through thermal conditioning of its surface, making it more resistant to flame.” Michael Green Architecture Inc. designed the structure. Other consultants included: Structural engineer Equilib- rium Consulting Inc, code consultant B.R. Thorson Consult- ing Ltd., and RDH Building Engineering Ltd. taking on the building envelope. The new provincial government building has been funded in part by the B.C. Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training. It will house demonstration spaces to show- case innovative wood products. The Industry Leader Through Customer Choice Project Spotlight The Wood Innovation & Design Centre Exterior Rendering - Credit: MGA Houle Electric is proud to have worked with PCL Constructors Westcoast on the completed integrated electrical wooden building in North America. www.houle.ca The Canadian Design and Construction Report — Winter 2015 – 39