Brentwood Town Centre Station

Location

Burnaby, BC

Size

2,045 square metres

Completion

2002

Architecht

Perkins and Will

Structural Engineer

Fast + Epp

Engineered Wood Fabricator

Mercer Mass Timber LLC

Owner

TransLink

Project Materials

Glue-laminated timber (Glulam)

Nail-laminated timber (NLT)

Structural Systems

Hybrid / Other

Low rise

Post + beam

Prefabricated

The double-curved wood canopy and futuristic form of Brentwood Town Centre Station makes it an iconic structure on the Burnaby skyline.

  • The elevated rapid transit station on Vancouver’s Millennium Line was the first of a series to incorporate wood and the first of its kind in North America.
  • The striking curved wood canopies and overall canoe-like shape give the futuristic appearance of a station elevated high above a major thoroughfare.
  • The canopies utilize both traditional materials and digital technology to create a hybrid timber design.

The first in a series of innovative transit station designs to incorporate wood, Brentwood Town Centre Station is an iconic structure on Metro Vancouver’s Millennium Line, with its double-curved futuristic form levitating above Lougheed Highway. Its sleek, canoe-like design foreshadowed the thoroughly modern, state-of-the-art town centre currently under construction in Burnaby, the city immediately to the east of Vancouver.

The structure’s hybrid-timber design is the result of digital technology applied to tried-and-true traditional materials. The two curved nail-laminated timber (NLT) canopies, supported by glue-laminated timber (glulam) ribs, are connected via a structural gutter to steel cross-bracing and V-shaped steel struts to form the primary structure to which the glazing is fastened. More station designs followed this precedent-setting project, incorporating mass timber or other wood products in various architecturally expressive shapes and forms.

Large arching nail laminated timber (NLT) beams supporting a wooden ceiling are prominent features in this interior view of the City of Burnaby's Brentwood transit station
Wood in Transportation

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Lansdowne Canada Line Station in evening with wood detail ceiling, pot lights and skytrain in station. Escalator in foreground.
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Aberdeen Canada Line Station interior with wood detail ceiling in daytime
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