‘Mass timber’ movement breaking ground on Ontario’s tallest wood building

The movement to build big structures from specially engineered wood, often called mass timber, will get a boost on Tuesday morning when George Brown College breaks ground on what will be Ontario’s tallest wood building, funded in part by a $10-million donation from veteran Bay Street deal maker Jack Cockwell.

The donation is the largest ever to a college in Ontario.

In an interview, Mr. Cockwell’s son, Gareth Cockwell, used the term “plyscraper” to describe the 10-storey home for the school’s computing and architecture programs. It will also include a daycare centre.

“The building will be smart, it will be sustainable, it will be the latest and the best of mass timber technology,” said Luigi Ferrara, dean of the Centre for Arts, Design and Information Technology at George Brown.