Vancouver Island University got the nod to raise some tall timber as city council approved a major height variance for a student housing project. Council voted to issue a development variance permit for a 10-storey hybrid mass-timber student housing complex on VIU campus. …According to city documents, the complex will be built next to existing student housing and an outdoor sports court, and will be a seven-storey timber structure built atop a three-storey concrete podium. The housing will provide 266 student beds with shared lounges on each residential floor, student support space, amenity areas and food services and will be built with a goal to achieving Step 4 of the B.C. Energy Step Code for greenhouse gas emissions targets. The $87-million project was first announced in September 2022. The building will be 33 metres tall in an area zoned for a 14-metre building height maximum, so a height variance approval from council was required.