Designed by a young architect from Toronto, Timber-Link uses cross laminated timber to form a flexible system of clustered inhabitable cells at Cape Dorset in Nunavut, Canada. Building panels are prefabricated with insulation and cladding installed before assembly, thus expediting erection and reducing the need for skilled labor on site – especially for situations requiring speedy construction such as disaster relief.

The system can be deployed at different scales, in different configurations, and for different circumstances. Infinite outcomes can be produced, either through the stacking of units or by means of a telescoping mechanism allowing unit assemblies to expand or contract. Not only does the system enable arrangements that can respond to particular requirements, but it also allows for a level of specificity that might not be otherwise feasible – as in remote areas of Northern Canada.

Read project feature in 4th Holcim Awards 2014/2015 (flip-book)

“Timber-Link: Interlocking panelized timber building system” won the “Next Generation” 4th prize. The project creates methods of construction that utilize local labor in the assembly of sustainable structures.

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The winning projects of the Holcim Awards 2014 for North America are at the cutting edge of efficiency and innovation in sustainable construction. The top prize went to a water supply and flood mitigation project in Las Vegas designed by Amy Mielke and Caitlin Taylor. BIG’s urban flood-protection concept for lower Manhattan was conferred the silver Award, and a zero-carbon compostable structure recently on display at MoMA New York designed by David Benjamin received bronze.

The jury especially commends the author’s courage to revisit concepts pertaining to prefabrication in architecture such as those explored by Konrad Wachsmann and Fritz Haller for the Habitat 67 model community in Montreal. Notwithstanding the criticism to which aggregate housing ensembles were exposed, the proposed scheme aims to learn from history and further develop both construction and assembly to create more adaptable configurations – turning the logic of a quasi-neutral and anonymous system into one producing a site-specific architecture.

Designed by a young architect from Toronto, Timber-Link uses cross laminated timber (CLT) to form a flexible system of clustered inhabitable cells at Cape Dorset in Nunavut, Canada. Building panels are prefabricated with insulation and cladding installed before assembly, thus expediting erection and reducing the need for skilled labor on site – especially for situations requiring speedy construction such as disaster relief. The system can be deployed at different scales, in different configurations, and for different circumstances. Infinite outcomes can be produced, either through the stacking of units or by means of a telescoping mechanism allowing unit assemblies to expand or contract.