Developing the World’s Tallest Net Zero Timber Building with Sidewalk Labs

When Sidewalk Labs announced a master innovation and development plan (MIPD) for a smart city in Toronto, the world took notice. Today Gensler shares in the excitement, unveiling plans for what would be the world’s tallest mass timber building, Proto-Model X, known simply as PMX (click here to read Sidewalk Labs' official post debuting the project). Working with Sidewalk Labs and a network of engineers, environmental specialists, and other partners, we have collectively spent the past year exploring timber’s potential impact on building design, manufacturing, and sustainability. Toronto’s eastern waterfront presents an incredible opportunity to shape the city’s future and provide a global model for inclusive growth that advances design innovation and sustainability benchmarks for the industry.

The 472,000 square foot building will include 35-stories of retail, offices, residential, as well as integrated building services below ground in order to maximize efficiency across all the various needs within. Standing at approximately 426 feet tall and drawing from engineering tactics more typical of super-tall building design (the cross braced frame and a tuned mass damper), PMX is aiming to achieve Toronto Green Standard (TGS) 3 which sets highly specific targets around energy usage that paves the way towards zero carbon emissions, in addition to higher standards for flood mitigation and use of resources. The aim is to create a resilient building which lessens the strain on the existing city infrastructure.

In order to produce a completed design we executed a number of prototypes which stress tested the viability of prefabricated assemblies and the technical performance of materials in order to realize our design concept as an integral part of the future of the construction industry.

The work we have done with SWL was boosted by Gensler's growing expertise in mass timber. Mass timber has become an increasingly attractive option recently due to its combination of fire resistance, structural integrity, and environmental benefits. Timber buildings also weigh 20% less than their concrete counterparts, which ultimately reduces foundation size, and is one of the factors that contributes to a reduction in embodied carbon. 

These efficiencies in both operational and embodied carbon would put Gensler six years ahead of the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3), intended to set a new standard reducing all carbon emissions in the built environment by 2030. With Sidewalk Labs and PMX we hope to drive transformational change on a global scale.

This blog originally appeared on www.gensler.com (24.01.2020)