Project Entry 2014 for North America
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Project entry 2014 North America – Timber-Link: Interlocking panelized timber building system, Cape Dorset, NU, Canada
System: the two examples represented use the same four building blocks: a bachelor unit, a one bedroom unit, a two/three bedroom unit, and an egress unit. These base units are constructed from combinations of the same floor, wall, ceiling, kitchen, and WC modules. Contrary to this maximum level of prefabrication and modularity, at the level of the assembly, the system is intended to flex and adapt to site particularities through deformation in plan and differences in stacking height.
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Project entry 2014 North America – Timber-Link: Interlocking panelized timber building system, Cape Dorset, NU, Canada
Remote building: the first example is located in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, located high in the Canadian North. While Cape Dorset has a vibrant arts scene, its building culture suffers a similar fate to other remote communities where new construction is low quality, expensive and architectural expression is “off the shelf”. TimberLink targets these issues through a simple, flexible prefabrication method that is achievable by locals rather than expensive imported labor.
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Project entry 2014 North America – Timber-Link: Interlocking panelized timber building system, Cape Dorset, NU, Canada
Timberlink can be deployed at different scales, in different configurations, and for different circumstances. Infinite outcomes can be produced, either through the stacking of units or by means of a telescoping mechanism allowing unit assemblies to expand or contract.
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Project entry 2014 North America – Timber-Link: Interlocking panelized timber building system, Cape Dorset, NU, Canada
Timberlink can be deployed at different scales, in different configurations, and for different circumstances. Infinite outcomes can be produced, either through the stacking of units or by means of a telescoping mechanism allowing unit assemblies to expand or contract.
Last updated: March 31, 2014 Toronto, ON, Canada
Designed by a young architect from Toronto, Timber-Link uses cross laminated timber (CLT) to form a flexible system of clustered inhabitable cells at Cape Dorset in Nunavut, Canada. Building panels are prefabricated with insulation and cladding installed before assembly, thus expediting erection and reducing the need for skilled labor on site – especially for situations requiring speedy construction such as disaster relief. The system can be deployed at different scales, in different configurations, and for different circumstances. Infinite outcomes can be produced, either through the stacking of units or by means of a telescoping mechanism allowing unit assemblies to expand or contract.
Not only does the system enable arrangements that can respond to particular requirements, but it also allows for a level of specificity that might not be otherwise feasible – as in remote areas of Northern Canada.
Progress: TimberLink is a highly flexible system that uses cross laminate timber (CLT) to aggregate inhabitable cells into buildings. Vertically, units stack long above short, producing one regular side of alignment. Interdigitating a second stack into the irregular side allows the possibility of expansion in the system by pulling the two stacks apart while maintaining linear utility runs. Different configurations of stacking and expanding produce infinite possible outcomes in both plan and section. Two particular arrangements are shown.
People: Through panelized prefabrication, skilled labor on the building site is displaced to the originating factory. This is intended to address the construction challenges in remote communities in Canada, and allow for a quality of architecture that is currently impossible there. Due to the panelized timber structure, the final site assembly can be performed quickly, by local people using standard tools.
Planet: The CLT structure acts as enclosure for each cell and is high in sequestered carbon. Using timber in place of alternate materials means thousands of tons of CO2 can be prevented from entering the atmosphere. As remote construction is so resource hungry in places like the Canadian North, such material use aims to offset the massive carbon costs of moving building products such a distance.
Prosperity: Currently remote construction is expensive due to specialized labor and the need to move materials. TimberLink attempts to address both of these challenges by using a maximum amount of prefabrication allowing for cost benefits at the building site. TimberLink’s CLT structure is fully edit-able, with structural redundancy that will allow for changes to easily take place using simple tools and an economy of resources for the local community.
Place: The flexible nature of TimberLink’s aggregation allows for infinitely variable form, at the cost of regular form. Not only does this enable arrangements that can respond to case-by case requirements, but it also allows for a level of architectural specificity that might not be otherwise affordable. It is intended that the systems adjustability can produce sensitive arrangements at the scale of the site, and compelling spaces at the scale of occupation.