(TORONTO, September 16, 2024) – In partnership with owner/developer, Hines, DLR Group has announced the completion of the firm’s first T3 – Timber, Transit, Technology – office concept in Canada. Reaching eight stories at 33 meters (108 feet) tall and spanning 300,000 SF across two buildings, T3 Sterling Road is DLR Group’s largest and tallest T3 project to date. DLR Group provided architectural services for the development.

Situated in Toronto’s Junction Triangle neighborhood, the community embodies all the hallmarks of an up-and-coming post-industrial revival: on the edge of downtown, abutting a multi-modal trail, within walking distance of several public transit stops, adjacent to Toronto’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and bubbling with creative energy.

T3 Sterling Road echoes DLR Group’s T3 West Midtown, with external bracing, generous private balconies, and the juxtaposition of warm wood and blackened steel. Featuring robust wellness-focused amenities, ground floor retail and restaurant capabilities, shared rooftop patios, and shared social workspaces, the new development is an ideal destination for a forward thinking, technology focused workforce seeking an innovative and eco-friendly office environment.

As with every T3 project, Sterling Road incorporates high sustainability and health standards to make a meaningful impact toward carbon emissions reduction including clean building materials, natural light, and green roofs. The development was also designed to achieve LEED Gold and WELL building certification. Through timber and other sustainability practices, the building of T3 Sterling Road avoided 2,305 metric tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to taking 1,746 cars off the road for a year.

The T3 Sterling Road development includes two metal-clad timber-frame buildings knit together by a privately-owned public park, with parking tucked discreetly below the park to support the neighborhood’s urban vibe.

As with each unique heavy timber development, the design team has improved the program in response to jurisdictional distinctions. “The use of mass timber has allowed us to push the boundaries not only in design and construction, but also by bridging the knowledge gap between testing lab data and building code language. Projects like the T3 concept are real-world case studies for the industry to reference as code language is advanced in support of more sustainable building materials like mass timber moving forward,” Cavanaugh added.

Through Ontario’s alternative compliance path, T3 Sterling Road exceeded the building code height and story limits for exposed mass timber and reveals that there are greater possibilities for extending the use of mass timber in the built environment beyond the workplace.

T3 Sterling Road is the latest in a series of six new T3 developments by the firm across North America, including T3 Wedgewood-Houston in Nashville, Tennessee; T3 RiNo in Denver; and T3 Eastside in Austin, Texas, all of which were completed in early 2024.

Additionally, there are more than six other developments in various stages of design and construction, including T3 FAT Village in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which is expected to be completed by late 2026.

Explore DLR Group’s mass timber portfolio through the Hines T3 Partnership.

Discover our top takeaways from designing with mass timber.