Kamloops - British Columbia

Elegant gymnasium roof trusses and classroom 2-way grids use state-of-the-art timber technology.

The gymnasium roof trusses consist of an elegant hybrid between glue laminated beams and a king post truss. The top chord consists of a pair of sculpted glulam beams creating a dynamic form. These are connected together through a king post truss with double steel rods. The highly loaded connection between the steel rods and the wood is elegantly and reliably achieved with the German proprietary Bertsche “BVD” connector. Block gluing was used to widen the glulam at the connection.

The classrooms feature an innovative timber structural system called a two-way lattice or grid. These consist of intersecting pairs of 114x114 Hem-Fir sawn timber elements, stitched each end with tight-fit pins and blocking to form blocked beam elements, each 356mm deep. 38x140 mm diagonal T & G decking triangulates the system, providing an effective diaphragm without the need for plywood. The seven identical 5.6 x 6.5m grid panels were fabricated on the ground and raised with a crane.

Client - Sk’Lep First Nation Band
Architect - Ib G. Hansen Architect
Budget - $3.7 million
Completed - 2003