A 10 Storey Timber Braced Frame and CLT Structure in Vancouver, BC

This paper outlines the structural design approach used for the Keith Drive Office Building project, a 10-storey mass timber building in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The office building includes exposed timber throughout most of the building, including timber brace frames along the perimeter, and cross laminated timber (CLT) shearwalls at the interior near the elevator and stair cores for seismic and wind forces. The project deployed resilient slip friction joint (RSFJ) dampers as energy dissipative devices on both the timber braced frames and CLT shearwalls. Non-linear time history analysis (NLTHA) was completed to evaluate the performance of the building. Detailed modelling and calibration of 2D shell elements was undertaken to ensure a reasonable understanding of the impact of the semi-rigid CLT diaphragm.