Back in October 2017, Graywood Developments marked the start of construction for their SCOOP Condos development with a ground breaking held at the project's Saint Clair Avenue West site, just east of Old Weston Road in Toronto's Carleton Village neighbourhood. 18 months later, construction is moving along for the 6-storey, SMV Architects-designed condominium development.

Proposed in the months after a 2016 change in the Ontario Building Code (OBC) permitted timber buildings as high as six storeys, the project is among the first timber residential builds to take advantage of the updated code.

Looking southeast to SCOOP Condos, image by Forum contributor drum118

Though factors including sustainability and construction speed contributed to the selection of timber, the primary motivation for constructing the building in wood was due to soil conditions on site. The comparatively low weight of timber structural elements versus heavier steel and concrete construction was deemed a better fit.

Looking southwest to SCOOP Condos, image by Forum contributor drum118

Photos captured earlier in the month show that the poured concrete ground floor is structurally complete, is now being topped by residential levels framed in timber. These locally-sourced Oriented Strand Board (OSB) timber elements are being installed around a central concrete core to form the building's residential floorplates. The second floor is largely in place, as well as the majority of the third level and the first structural elements for level four.

Osler Street frontage at SCOOP Condos, image by Forum contributor drum118

A closer look reveals that the first windows have been installed along the building’s second level. Architectural plans shows that the walls around the punched windows will be clad by a mix of stone veneer, white precast concrete, cream- and charcoal-coloured fibre cement panels.

Window installed at SCOOP Condos, image by Forum contributor drum118

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.

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