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Cladding installation is advancing on the University of Toronto’s Academic Wood Tower, as the hybrid mass-timber structure is well past the halfway mark on its way to completion with 14 storeys. Designed by Patkau Architects and MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects, the building on the school's St George campus is rising beside the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport as Canada’s tallest academic timber structure, combining glulam (glue-laminated timber) columns, diagonal braces, and steel-reinforced stair and elevator cores. UrbanToronto last provided an update in June, 2025, when the frame stood at eight storeys.
Viewed from along Devonshire Place in August, 2025, the tower had reached ten storeys, with crews installing new facade panels along the south elevation. The crane can be seen holding a prefabricated cladding unit in position on the ninth floor, supported by a system of diagonal glulam braces that form the hybrid timber-steel frame. Four levels of the horizontally-scored panels were then in place between the fifth and eighth floors, with the east elevation showing a nearly continuous envelope.
Viewed from St George Street, the west elevation is steadily being enclosed, with the dark-olive cladding panels now spanning most of the facade. A vertical strip remains unclad where a ribbon of glazing will later be inserted. Behind the envelope, the building’s distinctive diagonal glulam beams are visible through open sections, their angles illustrating the frame’s stiffening system.
Seen from Bloor Street looking southeast in September 2025, the north facade is largely wrapped in black weather protection, save for the current top floor. Two tall vertical glulam columns rise to the height of the future 14th level.
Looking southwest in October, 2025, the tower now stands twelve storeys high. The red crane anchors the northeast corner beside the construction hoist that currently reaches the ninth floor. Above the enclosure, the structural frame of glulam beams and columns is clearly expressed, with thick diagonal members angling inward at the top levels to form part of the building’s lateral bracing system.
A drone view from above Varsity Stadium captures the Academic Wood Tower with its thirteenth level being built. Five completed levels of cladding line the south and east facades, while the remaining upper floors await finishing. White tarp covers open bays on the south elevation where glazing installation is pending. The panel system is organized in stacked rectangular sections with a distinctive angled transition at the fifth floor along the east elevation, marking the start of the facade envelope.
A high-angle perspective highlights work on the timber deck of the 13th level. The hybrid structure’s laminated floor decking forms a mostly uniform grid. Two steel stair cores on the east and west sides interrupt the timber surface, along with the opening for the central elevator core. Once the 14th floor is built, work will transition to the structure’s tall crown as seen in the renderings.
Upon completion, the Academic Wood Tower will stand 77m tall.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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UrbanToronto's research and data service, UTPro, provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe—from proposal through to completion. Other services include Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.
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