Martin Nielsen

An architect and engineer behind some of Canada’s most iconic mass timber buildings has high hopes for the material as a sustainability enhancer and a boost to the country’s economy. Martin Nielsen, a partner at Calgary-based DIALOG, is an advocate for the engineered wood product that is made by gluing lumber into panels. His mass timber portfolio includes the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CRIS) and its Campus Energy Centre, the 10-storey office building The Hive being built in Vancouver, and the Brentwood and Gilmore Skytrain stations. Quoting one of his former bosses, Nielsen said timber is a natural and renewable material, “the only building material made by the sun.” …Nielsen added, when people see wood in a building it lowers a key stress hormone. He also envisions it as a way to support Canada’s forestry industry amid shaken-up trade with the US.