According to a recent study by the Real Estate Institute of Canada, multifamily development has become a strategic and important shift in Western Canadian residential construction. With the recent rise in interest rates and construction costs, multifamily projects are increasing in development.
Prefabricated wood products (like Structural Truss’ roof trusses, wall panels, and floor systems), are a great way for developers and contractors to optimize efficiency, reduce costs, and meet their timelines without sacrificing quality.
Our Project Manager, Thorin Chaffee, explains our growing diversity of products:
“When I started with Structural Truss Systems six years ago, we only supplied Roof & Floor Trusses and some limited Engineered Wood Products. Today, we still supply those products, but have added Prefabricated Wall Panels, Prefabricated Floor Panels, Stairs, Laminated posts, and have more than quadrupled the amount of E.W.P. we supply to our customers. We make projects as diverse as 6 story downtown apartment buildings and Rocky Mountain overlooking condos, to free span 120′ riding arenas and prefab shelters for fire fighters in our northern forests.”
If you are a contractor or construction company, what are some of the benefits of using Structural Truss for your multifamily projects?
1. Custom Designed by Framers for Framers
Structural Truss offers in-house design services to contractors and builders. Most of our design team began as framers themselves, so they intuitively understand the ins and outs of the construction industry.
Whether it’s a complex roof design, an open-floor layout, or custom wall panel plan, trusses can be customized to suit various architectural needs. This flexibility allows multifamily projects to meet specific design requirements with the most amount of ease and open communication between designers and contractors.
In the multifamily sector, where maximizing space and optimizing floor plans are essential for attracting tenants, the flexibility of having our own in-house design team, working side by side with the manufacturers, is a huge advantage.
2. Cost-Effectiveness and Speed
The use of our pre-engineered products significantly reduces on-site labor costs and construction time. Our walls, floors, roof trusses, and posts are prefabricated in controlled environments, meaning that they are ready to be delivered and installed as soon as they arrive. This eliminates the need for custom construction on-site, which can be time-consuming and expensive.
Says Chaffee about the wall panels in particular,
“Prefabricated wall panels are a proven building solution, that allows for a consistently high-quality product to be delivered to site using less labor and time than traditional stick framing. When used on large multifamily buildings the projects appear to go up overnight.”
3. Long-Term Durability and Safety
When people think about construction, they tend to think that something that can speed up the process would reduce the quality, safety, and durability of the completed project. But that isn’t the case here. We make sure that we work side-by-side with the contractors during the construction process, often going on-site for inspections and reviews.
Because prefabricated trusses have so much time before going on-site to meet precise specifications, these builds tend to be safer for the construction crew and reduce the risk of compromised integrity for the homeowner.
As seen in these pictures on a recent project, our wood is coated in BarrierTek, which reduces the risk of high intensity residential fires by being treated wood that is non-toxic and has zero off-gassing. Because multifamily development increases the likelihood of fire damage by being in such tight proximity with others, having this BarrierTek solution helps mitigate this concern.
Helping Build Western Canada
Structural Truss Systems finds working in the multifamily construction sector deeply rewarding. By providing cost savings, design flexibility, on-site efficiency, and long-term durability, we feel we make a great contribution to multifamily housing all throughout Western Canada.
