Toronto's Timber Tower: Limberlost Place Wins Global Project of the Year

TORONTO, ON – December 18, 2025 – A striking 10-story structure on Toronto's waterfront has captured the global construction industry's highest honour. Limberlost Place, George Brown Polytechnic’s new mass timber facility, has been named the Global Best Project of the Year by the prestigious Engineering News-Record (ENR). The project, built by PCL Construction and a consortium of visionary partners, also secured the award for Global Best Project in the Education/Research category, cementing its status as a landmark achievement in sustainable design and engineering.

The ENR awards celebrate construction projects worldwide that demonstrate exceptional safety, innovation, teamwork, and quality. A panel of industry leaders selected Limberlost Place from a competitive field of 32 winning projects across 24 countries, recognizing it as the pinnacle of global construction excellence for the year. This dual recognition highlights not only the building's architectural and engineering prowess but also its profound implications for the future of urban development and educational infrastructure.

"This global recognition reflects the dedication of our people and partners to tackle complex challenges and deliver innovative, sustainable, and industry-leading solutions," said Chris Gower, president and CEO of PCL Construction. "We're grateful to ENR for this honour and proud to share it with our client, partners, and workforce, whose collaboration and commitment to excellence bring our purpose of building a better future together to life."

A New Paradigm in Sustainable Design

At its core, Limberlost Place is a masterclass in low-carbon construction. As Ontario's first institutional building of its kind, it operates with a net-zero carbon footprint, generating no on-site fossil fuel emissions. This remarkable feat is achieved through a synergy of cutting-edge technologies and intelligent design.

The building's energy strategy is anchored by Enwave's Deep Lake Water Cooling system, which harnesses the frigid temperatures of Lake Ontario to provide efficient heating and cooling. This is supplemented by a steeply sloped, south-facing roof optimized for a large photovoltaic array, which is expected to generate approximately 24% of the building's energy needs. The structure's highly efficient thermal envelope further minimizes energy demand.

Perhaps most impressively, the building is designed to breathe. Two towering solar chimneys on its east and west facades create a natural convection effect, drawing fresh air through the building. This system, combined with operable windows controlled by a rooftop weather station, allows the facility to rely entirely on natural ventilation for an estimated 30% of the year. This not only reduces energy consumption but also creates a healthier and more comfortable indoor environment for students and faculty.

The Art of Building with Wood

The most visually and structurally defining feature of Limberlost Place is its extensive use of mass timber. The building stands as a testament to the material's potential, pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible for tall wood structures. Its hybrid system blends mass timber with concrete and steel, creating a robust and resilient framework.

The project features a groundbreaking slab band structural system, a three-component solution engineered by Fast + Epp. This innovative design, inspired by concrete parking structures but reimagined for timber, uses bespoke glulam columns and timber-concrete composite slab bands. This allows for long, open spans and beamless ceilings, providing the flexibility needed for modern academic spaces. Soaring three stories high, some of the building's mass timber columns are the largest in North America, weighing up to 22,000 pounds each.

The construction process itself was a feat of collaboration and skill development. PCL's Toronto team partnered with mass timber experts from its Denver office, which had experience with similar complex wood structures. This knowledge transfer was crucial. To execute the vision, PCL's in-house workforce underwent specialized training with the local carpenters' union, building a new base of local expertise in the rapidly growing field of mass timber construction. This strategic investment in workforce development ensures the lessons learned from Limberlost Place can be replicated on future projects.

Mass Timber's Moment: Shaping Canada's Urban Future

Limberlost Place arrives at a pivotal moment for the construction industry. Mass timber is rapidly gaining traction as a sustainable alternative to carbon-intensive steel and concrete. As a renewable resource that sequesters carbon, wood offers a clear path toward reducing the significant environmental footprint of the building sector. Canada, a global leader in forestry and wood products, is at the forefront of this movement.

With over 660 mass timber projects completed or underway nationwide, the industry is experiencing explosive growth, supported by government initiatives like Canada's Mass Timber Roadmap. Recent changes to the national building code, which will permit encapsulated mass timber buildings up to 18 stories, are set to further accelerate adoption. Projects like Limberlost Place serve as critical proof-of-concept, demonstrating the material's safety, performance, and aesthetic appeal.

The benefits extend beyond sustainability. The prefabrication of mass timber components off-site leads to faster, quieter, and safer construction, with less waste and disruption in dense urban areas. The lighter weight of timber structures can also reduce foundation requirements, saving time, cost, and embodied carbon.

A Living Laboratory for a Greener Tomorrow

Beyond its technical achievements, Limberlost Place is fundamentally a space for learning. Designed in a joint venture by Moriyama Teshima Architects and Acton Ostry Architects, the building is a "living laboratory." The mass timber structure is left exposed throughout the interior, allowing students in George Brown's architecture, engineering, and construction programs to study its design and assembly firsthand. A striking feature staircase, also made of mass timber, winds its way through the building's core, connecting floors and creating spaces for informal interaction.

Integrated sensors monitor everything from energy usage and air quality to structural performance, feeding real-time data into the curriculum. The building itself becomes a primary teaching tool, offering tangible lessons in sustainable design, building science, and innovative construction. By immersing students in an environment that embodies the principles they are studying, Limberlost Place is not just housing the next generation of industry professionals—it is actively shaping their understanding of what a sustainable future looks like. This dual role as a high-performance building and an immersive educational tool is what elevates it from a mere structure to a transformative piece of infrastructure for the 21st century.