When global real estate, development, and management firm Hines unveiled the $24.5 million T3 building in Minneapolis designed by local firm Michael Green Architecture (now owned by Katerra) in 2016, the seven-story, 220,000-square-foot structure became the tallest mass timber tower in the United States. Three years on, the company is again pushing the boundaries of timber construction, unveiling plans for T3 Bayside, a 10-story building in Toronto that will become North America's tallest timber office building. (The record for the overall tallest timber structure on the continent is still held by the 18-story Brock Commons building in Vancouver.)
With Danish architecture firm 3XN leading the design, T3 Bayside will be located along Lake Ontario as part of a new 2,000-acre residential and commercial community.
"With 3XN’s world-class design and the building’s unrivaled amenity offering, T3 Bayside will truly set a new benchmark for creative office space and will ultimately be responsible for creating more than 3,000 jobs at Bayside," said Hines senior managing director Avi Tesciuba in a press release.
According to the same release, T3 Bayside will be constructed using cross-laminated timber and serve as the entrance to the new waterfront community, featuring various co-working, retail, and event spaces. Oriented around a central plaza, the tower is designed with stepped roof terraces leading to the surrounding community space.
"The wooden structure will be a prominent part of the design and provide a warm tactile environment for the tenants that doesn’t compromise sustainability," said 3XN partner and T3 leader designer Jens Holm in the release. "The flexible layout will be able to meet the diverse needs of the users and bring people together.”
To learn more about designing commercially viable mass timber structures, listen to the ARCHITECT Podcast Network's interview with Stephen Cavanaugh, principal at DLR Group, which served as the architect-of-record of T3 in Minneapolis.
