Popolo Construction Update: Framing
If you are not already aware, yes, we can build up to 6-story wood and frame buildings in British Columbia.
Hello, my name is Ehsan, and I am with the team at Propel here in east Vancouver. At the sight of our 6-story, wood-framed residential development called Popolo.
In January 2009, the BC building code was amended to allow for an additional two stories in the construction of four-story wood frame buildings. Of course, this amendment went through a rigorous vetting process with the assistance of the province’s advisory code consultant, and many technical nuances have been accounted for in the planning and construction processes.
However, for the everyday end-user, there really isn’t much of a difference in the day-to-day experience between four stories and six. These buildings can be stick-framed on sites or, as in Popolo’s case, framed with prefabricated sections that the framing team assembles on site.
There are a few things to keep in mind when purchasing a wood-framed building like a popolo. First, each floor of the building has an inch and a half of concrete topping, which assists with levelling the floors, increases the rigidity of the structure, and mitigates noise transference between the floors.
Second, the units within the building are separated by what’s called a party wall system. This means in and your and tare are two layers of 5/8-inch drywall on a 2-by-4-by-4-foot wood frame wall assembly. That is fully insulated. And then a one-inch air gap separates your wall assembly from your neighbor’s, which is also constructed using the exact same method as yours.
So in essence, you don’t actually share a wall assembly with your neighbour. Each unit has its own way of assembly, which is separated by a 1-inch air gap between the homes that helps mitigate noise transference. And lastly, the engineered floor joist system on every level contributes to the overall structural integrity of the building.
So, if you’re considering purchasing a condo in a wood-framed building in the city of Vancouver, similar to Popolo, you can rest assured that it meets some of the highest building standards across Canada.