Esquimalt has approved rezoning to allow for the IslandB次元官网网址檚 first mass-timber building to be constructed in the municipality, overlooking CFB Esquimalt.
The 12-storey, 83-unit prefabricated Corvette Landing project is targeted to be built on three properties along Admirals Road and Constance Avenue, north of Astle Street.
B次元官网网址淭his is an innovative project that is going to serve to really bring focus to Esquimalt as a municipality that does innovative and exciting things,B次元官网网址� said project manager Troy Grant of Standing Stone Developments.
A former Canadian Armed Forces member, Grant chose the location adjacent to CFB Esquimalt because of the diverse demographic of the Township and its desire to keep military families living there.
B次元官网网址淓squimalt has a housing crisis just like everybody else,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎nd, Esquimalt has an aging population, but itB次元官网网址檚 also got a growing young population.B次元官网网址�
Comprised of seven studio units; 27 units designed with one-bedroom plus den; 43 two-bedroom units and six three-bedroom units, Corvette Landing will also include 10 accessible units plus commercial space on the ground floor.
B次元官网网址淭here are good-paying jobs [in Esquimalt],B次元官网网址� Mayor Barb Desjardins said, referring to the naval base, Seaspan and Esquimalt Graving Dock. B次元官网网址淪o we have the opportunity to bring those families right next door to work. I canB次元官网网址檛 think of anything more suited.B次元官网网址�
Coun. Meagan Brame was in favour of the project given that it meets many of the TownshipB次元官网网址檚 , namely relationship building.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e taking down the fences between our residential area and the entrance to the base and really creating that community, which is ever so important,B次元官网网址� she said, adding it creates a density that is universal.
B次元官网网址淚t allows for people of varying stages in their life to all be connected.B次元官网网址�
Corvette Landing B次元官网网址� named after the small, speedy naval ship B次元官网网址� is modeled after Brock Commons, a student residence at UBC, currently the tallest mass timber building the world.
Modular construction makes for a significantly faster completion of a project on this scale, Grant explained; approximately nine months from first dig to move-in day, half the time of traditional concrete structures.
Because wood can only withstand so much pressure as you build vertically, he said the structure is not a traditional stick frame construction.
B次元官网网址淥ur building is going to be built using a technology that uses cross-laminate timber, which allows the wood to increase in strength and in flexibility to the point of the strength of steel,B次元官网网址� he said.
Upon completion the building will weigh just 25 per cent of a similarly sized traditional concrete and steel structure, will use more environmentally-friendly materials and reduce greenhouse gases.
The materials also allow for the units to be affordably market priced, something Grant said was top of mind considering the community in which it will be built.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 an incredibly important project,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭his will be the cornerstone for construction in Esquimalt.B次元官网网址�
