A Kitchener, Ont.-based architect sees plenty of opportunities for mass timber to help solve the affordable housing crisis.

Matt Bolen, principal with EDGE Architects, said the firm’s design of the recently completed four-storey transitional housing complex for women in Kitchener is a case in point.

Delivered in only one year, the net-zero-ready project illustrates how quickly mass timber buildings can be constructed for the right price with the right team.

A modular constructed design, it features cross-laminated timber (CLT) structural elements arranged to maximize efficiencies and minimize installation time. Panels are roughly 40 feet long, in the same range as precast hollow-core panels, but the CLT panels are three times as wide as precast achievable partly because of the light weight of wood.