Major construction activities are underway on the single largest on-campus student housing building at the Burnaby campus of British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).

The project is being built on a former surface parking lot south of the SW3 building on the western edge of the campus, next to Willingdon Avenue.

Construction on the 12-storey mass timber tower first began in late 2022, with visible progress now being made on the foundations.

The BCIT Tall Timber Student Housing building will have 470 beds, effectively more than doubling BCIT’s on-campus student housing capacity from 329 to 799 beds. It is BCIT’s first student housing project in four decades.

There will be studio units and single-occupancy rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchens, along with the provision of common spaces, collaboration and study rooms, and support areas.

The hybrid timber tower will be configured as two rectangular wings set at 90 degrees, with prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels supported by steel columns, and a steel braced frame for the staircase and elevator cores. The structure’s green design will reach the BC Energy Step Code 4 and a LEED Gold certification.

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