Element5 Co.

23/07/2025

📢 Project Update 📢 Last week was a ribbon-cutting event for our 1620 Main St. project. A 6-storey, , multi-family residential building, in Hamilton, Ontario.

🏗 The mass timber structure was assembled in 44 working days from basement sill plates to the cross-laminated timber ( ) roof panels and the Glulam columns at the building’s entrance.

The entire project was completed in 13 months from construction start to full occupancy.

👉🏼 With ambitious affordable housing housing goals needed over the next decade, smart, scalable solutions are desperately required. This means standardized, repeatable designs for multi-unit residential buildings that can be manufactured efficiently, cost-effectively, and at scale in factory setting.

👉🏼 Fortunately, mass timber ticks all of these boxes, and is emerging as a strong and viable solution to the challenge! This is Element5's 10th completed affordable housing project.

PROJECT DETAILS
🌲 The building's structural system is entirely made up of CLT components including the floors, cores, roof, unit demising walls, stairwells, elevator shafts and envelope.

👏 This is CityHousing Hamilton’s 1st mass timber project, and will be one of the first mass-timber Passive House multi-residential buildings in North America.

♻️ This will make it one of the most energy efficient buildings in Hamilton and will ensure low operating costs and almost 0% greenhouse gas emissions for the life of the building.

💗 The development will provide 42 apartments, with 52% being deeply affordable rent geared-to-income units, while 48% will be offered at ‘half-market’ rent.

👷🏼 Kudos to the project team:
Architects: McCallum Sather
General Contractor: Melloul Blamey
Urban Planner: Landwise
Civil & Structural Engineers: MTE Consultants
Mechanical and Electrical: DEI Consulting Engineers
Building Envelope and Moisture Control: RDH Building Science Inc.
Acoustic Consulting Services: HGC Noise Vibration Acoustics
Mass Timber Supplier: Element5
Mass Timber Installer: The Contract Framing Group

23/07/2025

📢 Project Update 📢 Last week was a ribbon-cutting event for our 1620 Main St. project. A 6-storey, , multi-family residential building, in Hamilton, Ontario.

🏗 The mass timber structure was assembled in 44 working days from basement sill plates to the cross-laminated timber ( ) roof panels and the Glulam columns at the building’s entrance.

The entire project was completed in 13 months from construction start to full occupancy.

👉🏼 With ambitious affordable housing housing goals needed over the next decade, smart, scalable solutions are desperately required. This means standardized, repeatable designs for multi-unit residential buildings that can be manufactured efficiently, cost-effectively, and at scale in factory setting.

👉🏼 Fortunately, mass timber ticks all of these boxes, and is emerging as a strong and viable solution to the challenge! This is Element5's 10th completed affordable housing project.

PROJECT DETAILS
🌲 The building's structural system is entirely made up of CLT components including the floors, cores, roof, unit demising walls, stairwells, elevator shafts and envelope.

👏 This is CityHousing Hamilton’s 1st mass timber project, and will be one of the first mass-timber Passive House multi-residential buildings in North America.

♻️ This will make it one of the most energy efficient buildings in Hamilton and will ensure low operating costs and almost 0% greenhouse gas emissions for the life of the building.

💗 The development will provide 42 apartments, with 52% being deeply affordable rent geared-to-income units, while 48% will be offered at ‘half-market’ rent.

👷🏼 Kudos to the project team:
Architects: McCallum Sather
General Contractor: Melloul Blamey
Urban Planner: Landwise
Civil & Structural Engineers: MTE Consultants
Mechanical and Electrical: DEI Consulting Engineers
Building Envelope and Moisture Control: RDH Building Science Inc.
Acoustic Consulting Services: HGC Noise Vibration Acoustics
Mass Timber Supplier: Element5
Mass Timber Installer: The Contract Framing Group

Read more at -North America’s first mass timber Passive House affordable housing project completed in Hamilton:
https://www.renewcanada.net/north-americas-first-mass-timber-passive-house-affordable-housing-project-completed-in-hamilton/

17/07/2025

📢 Project Update – Wasauksing Safe Home 📢 This project is just finishing up, and it’s looking terrific! Element5 is proud to have supplied beams and columns for this very special building - thoughtfully designed by Two Row Architect to provide safety and healing for those seeking refuge and support.

🏗️ Located within the Wasauksing First Nation territory near Parry Sound, this 10,813 sq. ft. facility will provide crisis services grounded in cultural practices to women, children, men and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals who are victims of domestic and intimate partner violence.

🌲 The shelter's design combines traditional Indigenous architectural elements alongside modern amenities to ensure comfort and security. The mass timber provides warmth and a sense of well being.

👉🏼 Embracing the principles of healing and wellness, the shelter features:
- communal spaces
- courtyard
- wraparound support through counselling and advocacy
- access to programs aimed at fostering and strengthening cultural identity.

The safe house will be available to community members and individuals from nearby communities.

👷🏽 Project Team Includes
Architect: Two Row Architect
Consulting Engineer: Crozier: Consulting Engineers
General Contractor: Adams Brothers Construction
Mass Timer Supplier: Element5
Base Plates: JVC Precision Ltd.

📷Photos and Renderings: by Two Row Architect

14/07/2025

📢 Project Update – Mass Timber Stable in Ontario 📢 Construction is galloping ahead on this stunning 12-stall horse stable.

🌲 Element5 is proud to supply the columns and beams and roof panels to this project. The mass timber really brings natural strength and beauty to this elegant rural structure.

🐎 Stay tuned for more as the build takes shape!

Thanks to partners POST Structures and Waddell Engineering Ltd. for bringing this project to life.

11/07/2025

It's always nice to see profiled by major media! This recent CBC Evening news piece is a terrific primer for the general public.

👉🏼 Features a profile on Ascent, has some great facts and figures, and has a comprehensive answer to probably the #1 question - "but doesn't mass timber burn"?

🌲 Why Urban Builders are Switching to Mass Timber
Urban builders are switching from steel and concrete to a material that is more sustainable and friendly to the environment. The use of what's called mass timber is up 15%.

07/07/2025

📢 Project Update – 215 Wellesley St., Toronto 📢 Work is nearing completion on this 8-storey, 48 unit, , supportive and transitional housing for the Elizabeth Fry Society. Element5 is proud to be part of the integrated project delivery (IPD) team, supplying the and on the build.

🌲 The 25,026 sq. ft. building is a hybrid structure that features 5-ply cross-laminated timber decking, point-supported on steel HSS columns. Construction is taking place on a small, compact infill site in downtown Toronto, making prefabricated, modular mass timber an ideal solution.

🏗️ Due to the narrow footprint, the team followed a strictly sequenced build approach, leaving one corner open as a delivery zone that was enclosed during the final stages.

Loftin and FAB Structures did an incredible job maneuvering and installing the mass timber and prefabricated components within such a tight space.

🏠The units are designed specifically to fill the housing gap for women and gender diverse people who have experienced conflict with the law, incarceration, and the challenges of poverty.

🧡 On top of affordable housing, residents will be offered wraparound support services such as counselling, community, court and outreach programs.

🌟 Project Details 🌟
👉🏼 The building features 8 floors of apartments and also includes a library, community areas, counselling spaces and offices.

👉🏼 The project is a huge update on the original 1970 building which had only 14 resident spaces.

👉🏼 The building prioritizes sustainable design and a trauma-informed approach to architecture.

👷🏽 Project Team
Client: Elizabeth Fry Toronto
Developer: Assembly Corp.
Architect: McCallum Sather, CMV Group architects
General Contractor: Loftin Management
Mass Timber Installer and Prefab Panel Manufacturer: Fab Structures
Mass Timber Supplier: Element5

This project is supported with funding from the City of the Toronto.

Photos from Assembly.

27/06/2025

📢 North America’s 1st Industrial Warehouse 📢 A new warehouse in Brampton, Ontario is making history, not for what it stores, but how it was built.

🏗️ For this 246,007 sq. ft. distribution warehouse facility, Prologis wanted to explore alternatives to traditional steel construction, and the team decided on a mass timber superstructure.

🌲 Element5 is proud to have supplied (cross-laminated timber) for the roof panels, and for beams and columns (from our parent company HASSLACHER NORICA TIMBER).

🌟 Project Highlights 🌟
👉🏼Project comprises 40ft high Glulam columns, 55ft and 60ft long Glulam beams, and 250,000 sq. ft. of 3-ply CLT.

👉🏼 The perimeter steel support framing was maintained utilizing innovative carbon-reducing SIN-Beam technology from Steelcon.

👉🏼 This benchmark-setting facility is targeting a LEED Silver certification.

👷🏽 Project Team
Client: Prologis
Architect: Ware Malcomb
General Contractor: Leeswood Construction
Mass Timber Engineer: Aspect Structural Engineers
Mass Timber Installer: Kinsol Timber Systems Ltd.
Mass Timber Supplier: Element5
Steel Support Framing: Steelcon Group of Companies

Video: ZeeDrone Aerial Solutions
Music: armonk by mobygratis

25/06/2025

Element5 Sales Director Lee Scott is quoted in this article from Passive House Canada on and sustainable construction.

"Once seen as a niche product, mass timber is now gaining traction as a mainstream solution for sustainable building across Canada’s residential, commercial, and institutional sectors.

“We’ve been building with wood for thousands of years,” says Lee Scott. “Then we shifted to concrete and steel—but the rise of mass timber marks a return, a rediscovery.”

As Director of North American Sales at mass timber manufacturer Element5, Scott has a front-row seat to wood’s resurgence as a prominent construction material."

Back to the Future of Building: How Mass Timber is Reshaping Sustainable Construction - read the full article here:

Once seen as a niche product, mass timber is now gaining traction as a mainstream solution for sustainable building across Canada’s residential, commercial, and institutional sectors. “We’ve been building with... Read more »

22/06/2025

With 7 projects already completed, and over 8 currently under development, we've shown that prefabricated, modular mass timber building simplifies and accelerates the construction process, saving time and money.

Our projects are precision manufactured multi-residential buildings, made from ­sustainable materials, that are safe and comfortable for occupants.

Just one such example is 35 Bellevue in Toronto, which is featured in a recent article in Toronto Life magazine. This new four-storey mass timber affordable housing project (currently a city-owned parking lot in the Kensington Market neighborhood), will include 78 private studio and one-bedroom apartments for individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

🏗️ Element5 is thrilled to be supplying the and on this transformative project,

An actually affordable housing project is rising in a former Kensington Market parking lot - Toronto Life article:
https://torontolife.com/city/real-estate-affordable-housing-mass-timbre-kensington-market/

👷🏽 Project Team Includes
Developers: St. Clare’s Multifaith, Kensington Market Community Land Trust, City of Toronto
Builder: Gillam
Architect: Montgomery Sisam Architects
Mass Timber Supplier, Member of Design/Build Team: Element5

19/06/2025

📢 Project Win – Revitalization of the Confederation Centre of the Arts (CCoA) 📢 The CCoA is undergoing the most significant transformation in its 60-year history and Element5 is proud to be a part of it!

We are supplying the and on this $65M project, and work has already begun!

♥️ An ambitious rejuvenation that blends sensitive renovation with bold new construction, the goal of the project is to inspire new Canadian work in theatre and visual arts, serve the local community with accessible arts classes, and provide spaces for community events and conferences.

🌟 Details of the Project
🌲 is being used throughout the new construction zones, including the reimagined Library Pavilion and a brand-new rehearsal hall.

🌲 Chosen over conventional steel, mass timber supports the project’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions while delivering warmth, beauty, and modern functionality.

👉🏼 Glulam bridges and CLT structural elements will weave through the existing floors of the former Library Pavilion, introducing barrier-free access route and adding warmth to the existing concrete heritage building.

👉🏼 A new rehearsal hall will feature CLT (cross-laminated timber) floor and roof panels supported by Glulam columns.

👉🏼Two new “insert” additions on either side of the revamped entrance will be made up of structural mass timber, with CLT being used for floor, wall and roof panels, Glulam for beams and columns, and even a mass timber elevator shaft.

♥️ Recognized already with a 2024 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence, this project stands as a national example of how sustainable materials and visionary design can preserve the past while building a better, greener future for the arts.

👷🏽 Project Team
Client: Confederation Centre of the Arts
Architects: Abbott Brown
General Contractor: Brighton Construction
Structural/Civil Engineering: SCL Engineering
Mechanical Engineering: MCA Consultants
Mass Timber Supplier: Element5
Mass Timber Installer: Seagate Mass Timber Inc..
Rigging Supply: MTC Solutions

📷 Renderings: Abbott Brown Architects, Photos: CCoA

This is a major infrastructure project for Atlantic Canada and is supported by the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island.

13/06/2025

📢 Project Completion: 1620 Main St. 📢 This 28,500 sq. ft., 6-storey, multi-family residential building redefines sustainable . The entire project was completed in 12 months from construction start to full occupancy.

Element5 is proud to have provided DfMA modelling, structural engineering (timber structural design & connections), consulting, pre-engineering review, 3D modelling, fabrication, supply and delivery of mass timber for this project!

🌲 Mass timber was used for almost the entirety of the structure - including floors, cores, roof panels, unit demising walls, shearwalls, stairwells, walls and landings, elevator shafts and envelope, beams and columns.

🏗️ The mass timber was assembled in 44 working days from basement sill plates to the CLT roof panels! Check out the progress in this time-lapse video.

🌟 PROJECT DETAILS 🌟
This project isn’t just about speed though, it's also about sustainability:

👉🏼 As CityHousing Hamilton’s first mass timber build, it’s set to be one of the city's most energy-efficient buildings.

👉🏼 The project boasts near-zero greenhouse gas emissions and ultra-low operating costs.

👉🏼 Setting a new standard in long-term performance, the building is among North America’s first mass-timber designed multi-residential buildings.

♥️ The building offers 42 apartments, with 52% geared to deeply affordable rent and 48% at half-market rates, proving that sustainability and affordability can go hand in hand.

🚀 Modest yet revolutionary, 1620 Main St. redefines the future of housing.

👷🏽 Project Team - Congrats to the whole project team!
Client: CityHousing Hamilton
Architects: McCallum Sather
General Contractor: Melloul Blamey Construction
Engineering Consulting: MTE Consultants, DEI Consulting Engineers
Building and Moisture Control: RDH Building Science Inc.
Building Code & Fire Compliance: Vortex Fire
Acoustics: HGC Noise Vibration Acoustics
Mass Timber Supplier: Element5

Thanks to ZeeDrone Aerial Solutions for the videography!

09/06/2025

📢 Project Update: Element5 Plant Expansion📢 To keep up with market demand for , we're expanding our state-of-the-art facility with a new line, and growing our footprint from the current 140,000 sq. ft. to over 360,000 sq. ft.!

🌟 See some of the construction in progress in this timelapse video showing the installation of our canopy, made of structural steel and fishbelly hashtag beams.

PROJECT DETAILS
🌲 This expansion will double our annual capacity to 50,000 m³ of Glulam and 50,000 m³ of CLT.

🌲The giant fishbelly Glulam beams are up to 80ft long and 9ft deep, and come from Austria from our parent company HASSLACHER NORICA TIMBER.

The expanded facility will include:
👉🏼 A new lumber sorting line with a multi-sensor quality scanner by MiCROTEC Innovating Wood called "Goldeneye".

👉🏼 A 25,000 sq. ft. additional space to the existing kiln to accommodate the capacity of the new Glulam production line.

👉🏼 A new 2-storey mass timber front office (using Element5 Glulam and ).

♥️ The expansion will have a Grand Opening in September of this year!

👷🏽 Project Team
General Contractor: Dancor
Architect: Architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson
Engineer of Record (foundation and Steel Structures): Co-elevate
Engineer of Record (Mass Timber): Element5
Excavation, Servicing, and Paving: J-AAR
Mass Timber Suppliers: Element5 and HASSLACHER

Video: ZeeDrone Aerial Solutions
Music: armonk by mobygratis

St Thomas Proud