A 17-storey mass timber-Passive House tower under construction in downtown Vancouver will help push forward clean, tall timber construction techniques, the company building the mixed-use structure at 981 Davie St. says.

The builders, Kindred Construction, with developers Community Land Trust (CLT), hosted a tour of the building on March 13. The tower will have 154 homes, including 123 co-op homes operated by CLT and 31 homes operated by McLaren Housing Society; two storeys of retail; and a new QMUNITY centre serving Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

Kenny Dempsey, project director at Kindred Construction, led the tour. He said the building is unique as it blends a concrete core atop two levels of concrete podium. The 15 levels above are designed and built with mass timber reinforced by steel. The mass timber panels were produced by Castlegar, B.C.-based Kalesnikoff.

The tour included Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and representatives from the provincial government, city council, BC Housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and QMUNITY.

Currently under construction, 981 Davie St. is one of the largest mass timber residential developments in B.C., designed to meet Passive House standards, Dempsey told Sustainable Biz Canada in an interview during the tour. 

Pre-fab approach cut down on waste, boosted efficiency

This tower will join Brock Commons, an 18-storey residential mass timber building at the University of British Columbia, and a 12-storey student housing building at the British Columbia Institute of Technology among the largest mass timber structures in the region. "What's different with this is that the prefabricated envelope is Passive House," Dempsey said, noting that makes it the first of its kind in the region.

To achieve Passive House standards, the project incorporates high-performance building systems such as airtight construction, passive solar shading, heat recovery ventilation, and highly efficient heating and cooling systems.

The design process includes Building Information Modelling (BIM). "By using BIM upfront, we have managed to do major clash detection on the whole structure of the building before any of the materials got here," Dempsey said. 

Prefabrication allowed Kindred to design the structure to an immense level of detail. "It meant that every piece of the structural building that arrived here was designed to fit exactly in its place."

That reduced waste and moved a lot of production off-site, which made the construction timeline more efficient and shorter. 

981 Davie helps to push the boundaries

Dempsey said the project will become an example for other tall timber buildings. "The next buildings that follow on from it all take on lessons learned.”

“This is something that is different and something that is new, so it allows us to have a much more vested interest on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “It keeps everybody focused on making it better and showing that we can do better."

A key component of the development is the new QMUNITY centre, which will provide more than 13,000 square feet of purpose-built space for programs, services and community gatherings. Serving queer, trans, and two-spirit communities across British Columbia, the new centre will expand access to mental health support, peer programs and inclusive community spaces.

Once complete, 981 Davie St. is expected to set a new benchmark for sustainable, mass timber residential development, showcasing how collaboration across government, non-profit and industry partners can deliver affordable housing and vital community space in downtown Vancouver.

Major co-op home producer welcomes mass timber movement 

CLT is a social purpose real estate development group governed by the Co-op Housing Federation of BC, established 30 years ago, Monica Morgan, executive director of the organization, said.

"About 10 years ago, we started with seven projects through partnership with the City of Vancouver, and now we have 34 properties. We have about 2,600 co-op homes, and we work with our provincial and federal and municipal partners to develop co-op housing predominantly, but other forms of housing too."

CLT welcomes the design and construction concepts of mass timber and Passive House, Morgan added. 

"We're really always working with our design partners, and looking at different ways that we can incorporate these modern methods of construction, for energy efficiency... improved livability, improved operations, and then cost savings as well,” she said.

Kindred Construction is a Vancouver-based general contractor active in mixed-use, multi-family, and institutional developments, with particular expertise in mass timber and high-performance building systems. 

981 Davie St. is expected to be complete in early 2027.