Fast + Epp celebrates completion of their new four-storey home office building in the Mount Pleasant district of Vancouver. The one of a kind building uses hybrid mass timber and steel as the structure’s fundamental building block to demonstrate material efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and sustainable construction.

Resilient in its design, the building incorporates Tectonus devices, a shock absorbent technology that not only dissipates and dampens energy but also enables the building to snap back to its original position after an earthquake, allowing for an immediate return to occupancy. The new office is the first to use this technology in North America.

The well-being and productivity of staff are at the forefront of the building’s design – generous glazing allows for ample daylighting of the mass timber interiors, and smart glass technology automatically adjusts the tint level eliminating the need for any window blinds. With this technology, the building has a reduced energy consumption level, and an improved ambiance for employees.  

Unique to the structural engineering industry, the space on the ground floor features a new integrated laboratory space, Concept Lab, to allow for the development, testing and fabrication of new prototypes.  The living laboratory will spark creativity, innovation and the testing of new ideas and technologies that will move structural engineering forward.  Concept Lab is slated to open in the Fall of 2021. 

Founder and Partner, Paul Fast said of the new home office:

“Our new home office celebrates Fast+Epp’s continued excellence over the last three decades in structural engineering. This state-of-the-art space is a result of pushing the boundaries on innovation, while involving thoughtful and engaging design.  We are thrilled to collaborate with clients and design teams in an office environment that will support and inspire fresh thinking, and build on our legacy of delivering high-end, architecturally expressive structural projects.”

Fast + Epp worked closely in partnership with design architects F2A, interior designers HCMA, contractor Companion Construction, mass timber installers Seagate Structures and smart glass manufacturer View.

About

Fast + Epp is an internationally recognized structural engineering firm with offices in Vancouver, Seattle, New York, Calgary, Edmonton and Darmstadt. The company is recognised for its ability to challenge convention and explore new ideas and design approaches for all building types and materials, including timber, precast concrete, cast-in-place concrete and steel. Having completed over 10 million square feet of hybrid and mass timber buildings around the world over three decades, Fast + Epp have earned a reputation as a global leader in hybrid and timber design.

fastepp.com

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