Vienna House: Advancing Mass Timber and Pre-Fabrication to Achieve Passive House

Vienna House: Advancing Mass Timber and Pre-Fabrication to Achieve Passive House

This webinar is part of the RAIC 2024 Conference on Architecture, now available to stream!

Topics: Climate Justice and Resilience, Sustainability, Adaptation and Mitigation

Length: 1 hour | What's Included: Video, Quiz, and Certificate of Completion 

As a learning lab, the Vienna House National Demonstration Project showcases best practices on achieving top-tier energy efficiency through material and product selection in a pioneering approach to low-carbon affordable housing. This talk centers on the strategic use of pre-fabrication as part of a comprehensive sustainability strategy, targeting low embodied and operational-carbon emissions.

Join the Project Lead and Project Architect as they discuss the advantages of pre-fabricated mass timber and wall panels, including expedited schedules, reduced lay-down space, and improved quality and efficiency. Gain valuable insights into Vienna House's super-integration of BIM coordination and the successful implementation of hybrid systems. The presentation will unveil how Vienna House managed to include an exposed wood structure as a unique ceiling finish—a rare feature in newly built apartments—offering residents exceptional biophilic benefits.

By the completion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Recognize holistic residential design that incorporates social, sustainable, and fiscal considerations.
• Discuss advances in mass timber in the affordable housing sector.
• Identity innovative materials and processes designed to deliver high-energy performance with low greenhouse gas emissions, such as pre-fabrication.
• Evaluate housing design through the lens of social sustainability.

Subject Matter Experts:

John Wall
MRAIC, LEED AP
Principal, Architect AIBC, Public Architecture

John Wall is a founding Partner of PUBLIC with 30 years of architectural practice. John’s inferential and thoughtful contributions, often at the intersection of art and architecture, have helped to earn the firm seven AIBC awards through a consistent demonstration of design excellence. Central to his work is improving the public domain, from the animation of collective space through to the rigorous application of sustainable technologies. John led the KPU Wilson School of Design as well as a major renewal of the iconic Erickson / Massey-designed SFU Plaza. He is currently leading SFU Residences Phase 3 and Vienna House, a learning lab focused on solutions to affordability, climate change, and social equity. Born in Vancouver and educated at the UBC, John continues to have an active role in Vancouver’s design community. He is a past member of the Surrey Design Panel, former chair of the City of Vancouver Urban Design Panel, and a member of the Development Permit Board. He is a regular guest critic at the UBC School of Architecture.

Jamie Harte
Certified Passive House Designer
Associate, Architect AIBC, Public Architecture

Jamie Harte graduated from the Edinburgh College of Art and the University, with professional experience in Ireland before moving to BC in 2011. With an early interest in residential building—his thesis focused on multi-unit housing and inventive social spaces—Jamie has since been involved in all aspects of residential architecture including client engagement, programming, detailed design, and consultation with municipalities. Highly invested in energy efficiency and low-carbon materials, he is a Certified Passive House Designer with Passive House Institute in Germany. Thorough, methodical, and detail-oriented, Jamie leads with a gift for untangling complex problems. He worked on the first Passive House standard multi-unit project in Squamish and was Project Architect for UBC Okanagan Skeena Residence, the first Passive House residence on a Canadian campus. He is now working on Vienna House, which takes on a number of complex issues – the climate crisis, the housing crisis, creating economic opportunities.