While the first concerns were for safety and wellbeing, the University used the opportunity to examine the resiliency of the building in the aftermath.
The Wood Innovation Research Laboratory (WIRL) is a centre for world-class research on wood mechanics and timber structures.
Since it was built in 2018, WIRL has been a lab where UNBC researchers conduct leading-edge experiments as well as a model structure.
“It’s pretty rare that you get to see a building that you designed go through something as extreme as an explosion right next door,” said Aspect Structural Engineers CEO and Principal Adam Gerber.
“Honestly, first impressions are that the building performed really, really well.”
When the adjacent building exploded on August 22nd, 2023, the pressure wave shook the WIRL like an earthquake, debris punctured the exterior cladding, allowing fire into the building, and triggering the interior sprinkler system.
“That facility was built as a passive building for energy,” said UNBC President Dr. Geoff Payne.
“Nobody expected an explosion, and when the explosion happened, it held up extremely well, and it speaks to the specifications and the modifications and how well that building was built.”
The University is crediting several core components of the building for it’s ability to survive the blast.
The flexible mass timber structure absorbed the blast’s force, bent, and returned to normal; and with it being independent of the wall panels, those panels were easily replaced while the mass timber structure stood.
They also said the use of floor joists in those exterior wood panels provided durability and strength, and the gaps in the joists were filled with insulation made from ground-up rock that acted as a barrier to the fire.
Payne added the building could be a model for future buildings as well.
“Not that you want to have explosions go off, but certainly earthquakes or other types of disasters that will ensure the structural integrity of those buildings are maintained, and minimizing damage, and maximizing the ability to get back into buildings as quick as possible,” Payne said.
The University said the explosion models the value of mass timber design to the global community, and that WIRL’s resiliency will allow researchers to continue their work to inform the next generation on safe, modern, energy-efficient mass timber construction.
The design of UNBC’s Wood Innovation Research Lab helped it survive the shockwave from a massive natural gas explosion, as well as a fire and a flood with only superficial damage.
Learn how it demonstrates the resiliency of mass timber construction: https://t.co/NPEXZzw3GN pic.twitter.com/i9gWYXarVo
— University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) (@UNBC) August 13, 2024
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