The six-storey, 70-room expansion to the Penticton Lakeside Resort has been officially “topped off.”
The ceremony held on Feb. 17 had contributors to the project signing a panel symbolically hoisted to the top of the structure.
The construction of the expansion had incorporated innovative mass timber, cross-laminated panels supplied by Structurelam.
“We are so proud to be spearheading this iconic way of building. Not just in our beautiful home of the South Okanagan, but more prominently, and perhaps more significantly, on the world stage. This truly is a world-class building,” said Elizabeth Cucnik with the Lakeside Resort.
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She added heavy timber construction promotes wood as a building material, but also brings awareness to the organization’s carbon footprint. The wood was supplied from certified sustainably managed forests.
“Building with wood is as visceral and as ancient as our ties with the land and Earth itself. A natural, raw, organic material, wood gives back what many of us have lost in this age of concrete and synthetics,” Cucnik said.
Cucnik said great pains were taken during the construction to mitigate environmental impacts and exceed environmental regulations.
“Not because it was required of us, but because it is our responsibility to protect this planet in which we love. This is our future. Working with our environment, for our environment, to continue our environment,” Cucnik said.
Cucnik added they are awaiting word from Penticton city council on the possibility of a 22-storey wood building further expanding the Lakeside Resort.
“We shall see,” she said.
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Dan Ashton, Penticton MLA, was at the ceremony and congratulated Lakeside general manager David Prystay.
“You’ve outshone yourself one more time. What an incredible project,” Ashton said, adding praise for the efforts made to keep the project local with Structurelam, Nick (Architect) and Greyback Construction. “This is a real made-in-Penticton project.”
Nick Bevanda with HDR/CEI Architecture Inc., design principle on the project, noted the sustainable building practices also have a foot in practicality.
“Because we had gone to cross-lam timber panels, and in terms of how the building gets fabricated, we were able to save 18 weeks off the schedule versus concrete. We’re always comparing what it would be like versus concrete. Time is money, so that’s important,” Bevanda said.
The wood is also able to be exposed on the ceilings and the panels that separate the units on the deck.
“We wanted to make sure that if this was going to be a wood building, a world-class wood building, we wanted to make sure everyone could see it and would know it,” Bevanda said.