A real estate development taking shape in Québec City hopes to be the municipality’s first to achieve a Zero-Carbon Building (ZCB) design certification.
The is located at the crossroads of a commercial/hotel sector and a large residential area, just north of the bridges that span the St. Lawrence. Construction began in October 2024 with the first phase scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2026.
Developed by and partner , Laforest will offer 358 housing units above a ground level commercial space. The first seven are façade floors topped by another six recessed floors, for a total height of 45 metres, making a total of 13 floors.
The commercial space features a canopy that defines its autonomy while creating a space for interaction with pedestrians. The 358 apartments above will share common areas such as a swimming pool, sauna and community rooms, plus on the top floor a gym built of laminated timber beams and posts, with exposed wood decking.
What makes Laforest stand out is the combination of a lightweight wood-frame envelope and solid wood construction, making it one of the tallest buildings of its type in the country.
Nicolas Constantin, president of Groupe Statera, told the simplified wood frame structure reduces the carbons associated with the manufacturing of the envelope. Minimizing the volume of concrete and steel in the structure, and instead using low-carbon materials like wood, also improves the building’s energy efficiency, due to wood’s reduced thermal conductivity.
Olivier Lessard, architect and project manager at RÉGIS, together with the project’s engineers, they investigated the height of each floor in order to optimize the inter-ceiling dimensions, thus reducing the height of the building and the overall size of the envelope.
Groupe Statera projects operational energy savings of more than 40 per cent. Laforest will use geothermal energy in the form of a mixed water loop, plus battery-free solar panels built into the structure. These are correctly referred to as Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) solar panels and are a result of a research and development partnership with Concordia University.
“For us, it was the right choice to optimize the use of solar panels by integrating them into the building envelope,” Constantin told . “They produce electricity without requiring more land space, but above all, they contribute to the production of net energy.”
In addition to 218 bicycle racks and more than 42 EV charging stations, 24 per cent of the site’s surface area will feature vegetation, including green roofs and rain gardens.
Constantin said meeting ZCB design certification, as set out by the ϳԹ Green Building Council, was “a bit of a high-wire act” requiring “being in control and not missing anything.”
However, the certification’s rigorous process was a guarantee of the project’s credibility, which was important for issues of viability, financing and profitability. This in turn led to qualification for five grant programs, each with their own objectives and constraints, which were essential to the project’s completion.
“We had to ensure we ticked all the boxes for five very demanding programs.”
This included a $1 million first-ever grant from the City of Québec for the use of innovative components in support of sustainable housing projects and $1.4 million from the Ministry of Natural
Resources. Laforest was also the first project to receive an exemption under a new Québec law adopted to accelerate construction starts.
Equally critical to the project’s success has been Groupe Statera’s partnership with Fondaction, a multibillion-dollar labour-sponsored fund that favours investments generating positive economic, social and environmental impacts, in addition to a financial return.
“That gave us wings,” Constantin.
“We maintain a passion for architecture and the art that flows from it. We focus on meticulous architecture, greening sites, and innovative architectural practices,” he . “For Statera, arts and culture are an integral part of the sustainable development of societies.”
John Bleasby is a freelance writer. Send comments and Climate and Construction column ideas to editor@dailycommercialnews.com.
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