The opportunity

Working on both new and existing buildings gives us a practical, sensible approach to any structural challenge. Whether you're an architect, building owner or contractor, you get structural solutions tailored to your project, large or small.

Services

What we design

New and existing structures, from first sketch to site.

New-build structural design

Any structure type, new or temporary, from concept to construction documents. Gravity, lateral and seismic.

Repair and restoration

Assessment, repair and strengthening, including capacity reviews and seismic upgrades.

Additions and alterations

New openings, extra storeys and support for mechanical upgrades.

Construction support

Shop drawing review, temporary shoring, cladding attachment and cold-formed steel shop drawings, and construction load checks.

Embodied carbon (GWP)

Carbon from the structural model, compared with code baselines while the design can still change.

Feasibility, peer reviews and forensic engineering

Early options studies, independent checks on other designs, and failure investigations.

Sectors

Markets we serve

The buildings we work on most.

Multi-residential and mixed-use

Apartments, townhomes and mixed-use buildings.

Commercial

Offices, retail, warehouses and industrial.

Existing buildings

Any building that needs assessment, repair or upgrades.

Hospitals and schools

Renovations, seismic upgrades and additions for healthcare and educational facilities.

Custom homes and discovery centres

Where the structure is part of the design: long spans, cantilevers, exposed connections.

Indigenous and community housing

Durable, buildable structure designed around community priorities.

Clients

Who we work for

The people who design, build and look after buildings.

Architects

Structure coordinated with the design from day one.

Developers

Efficient systems and straight answers on cost.

Contractors and design-builders

Buildable details, shop drawings and quick RFI turnaround.

Property managers and strata councils

Repair design and reports in plain language.

Building owners and investors

Capacity reviews, due diligence and upgrade options.

Public owners

School districts, health authorities and municipalities.

Free tools

Big decisions happen early. We help you weigh the options.

Three early-stage tools we use ourselves. Each one shows how it gets its answer.

Span-to-Depth

Compare spans and floor depths across timber, steel and concrete.

Open tool →

Carbon

Estimate embodied carbon (A1 to A3) at concept stage.

Open tool →

Systems

Score six structural systems against ten criteria.

Open tool →

Early-stage estimates from published benchmark and code values. For a project, we do the detailed version.

Materials

We do not start with a preferred material. The site, loads and code requirements guide the design.

Concrete

Foundations, podiums, cores and transfers.

Best for: below grade, heavy loads
Trade-off: higher carbon.

Steel

Long spans, brace and moment frames.

Best for: long spans, tight floor depths
Trade-off: fire protection and cost

Mass timber

CLT/DLT/NLT/GLT and glulam.

Best for: regular grids, exposed structure
Trade-off: the grid needs fixing early

Designed to Canadian codes and standards

We design to the National Building Code of Canada and the relevant CSA material standards.

Provincial & local codesProvincial, territorial and municipal adoptions of the NBC

CSA S304Design of masonry structures.

NBCNational Building Code — Part 3 and Part 9

CSA O86Engineering design in wood — CLT, glulam, DLT

CSA S16Design of steel structures

CSA A23.3Design of concrete structures

BIM and Revit coordination Aligned with LEED and energy codes

Selected projects

Projects across Canada

A selection of our work, from new-construction towers to condition assessments and reserve fund studies.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Short answers, with sources.

Is mass timber lower-carbon than concrete?

For the structure, generally yes. Peer-reviewed life-cycle studies report that mass timber structures have roughly 20 to 60% less embodied carbon than concrete, depending on the building and the assessment method [1][2]. Wood also stores carbon while it remains in the building. We calculate embodied carbon (A1 to A3) for each project instead of relying on rules of thumb.

Is it more expensive?

There is usually a modest structural premium over concrete, and the gap is narrowing as supply grows. Timber is lighter, which reduces foundation size. It is prefabricated, which makes sites faster and quieter. The structure can often stay exposed as the finish. We present cost and carbon together so you can compare them before you make a decision.

How does mass timber perform in a fire?

Large solid timber sections char slowly at a predictable rate. We size each member with an extra outer layer that is allowed to char, so the member keeps its structural capacity for the required fire rating. We design to the National Building Code of Canada and CSA O86 [3][4]. Mass timber behaves very differently from light wood framing.

Will it meet code where we are building?

We design to the National Building Code of Canada (NBC) and the relevant CSA material standards, and check seismic, snow and wind loads for your site [4]. The NBC now permits encapsulated mass timber construction up to 12 storeys.

How accurate are the tools?

The three tools are early-stage estimators. Each tool shows its working, so you can see how it calculates each result. They use published benchmark values and code values, listed in the references below. For a project, we prepare a detailed assessment using its quantities, environmental product declarations (EPDs) for the materials and a cost plan.

References

[1] Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), How to Calculate Embodied Carbon (2nd ed.), and LETI, Embodied Carbon Primer: method and benchmark A1 to A3 intensities for structural materials.
[2] Peer-reviewed life-cycle assessments comparing mass timber and concrete structures, reporting embodied carbon reductions of roughly 20 to 60% (for example, systematic reviews in Sustainability and Buildings, MDPI, and the USDA Forest Products Laboratory comparative LCA).
[3] FPInnovations and Canadian Wood Council, Canadian CLT Handbook: fire performance and char design of mass timber.
[4] National Building Code of Canada 2020 (NRC), and CSA O86, S16 and A23.3 (CSA Group): design of timber, steel and concrete structures.

Tell us about your project

Whether you are an architect with a concept or a community with a need, we would like to hear from you. Send us a few details and we will get back to you.

Prefer email? makesense@senseengineering.com