Reflecting on T3 Building in 2025
By Fay Harvey
TORONTO — Hines, a global real estate investment management firm, has been keeping its finger on the pulse of building trends and client needs since 1957, with a modern focus on sustainability — specifically, the T3 (Timber, Transit and Technology) method, which was created in 2012. The use of timber is integral to T3’s environmentally conscious focus, as the material is one of the planet’s most rapidly renewable sources, storing carbon instead of omitting it. The material is recyclable, biodegradable and non-toxic, and its lightweight composition makes for quick and clean project timelines. T3 buildings let off a distinct aroma of timber and the natural wood interiors give rooms a warm, inviting feel while supporting biophilic design goals.
The T3 concept was first deployed in 2016 in Minneapolis’ North Loop project. The Minneapolis T3, designed by Vancouver firm Michael Green Architecture (MGA), global design firm DLR and StructureCraft, an engineering firm based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The project made history as the first U.S. office building to be constructed of wood in the last 100 years. Inspiration for the Minneapolis building was derived from the city’s nearby Warehouse Historic District, the home of 1920s-era adaptive reuse buildings that were structurally held together by vintage brick and timber. Though a structurally intensive project featuring Dowel Laminated Timber floors, supported by glulam post and beam framing, wood installation took less than 10 weeks.
The North Loop project received several industry awards, inspiring Hines to take the T3 method to new heights by making it the prototype for the use of mass timber and sustainability in its eco-savvy projects. Nine years later, the T3 building model is the basis for 27 Hines construction projects within the U.S. and beyond. The most recent T3 project, T3 Sterling Road, is in the heart of Toronto’s Lower Junction neighborhood.
Designed by DLR Group, the 420,000-square-foot timber office development is home to open floor plans, nearly 12-foot-high ceilings and large warehouse-style windows. The structure includes one 300,000-square-foot facility and one 120,000-square-foot building, creating a campus-like feel and supporting networking. On the exterior, exposed bracing and steel bars provide an industrial aesthetic.

Rooftop patios offer skyline views, and private balconies on each floor provide access to fresh air. A state-of-the art fitness center with changing rooms and lockers is located on the bottom floor. The building’s convenient location near the local public transportation and an indoor bike park encourages personal carbon-footprint reduction while also living up to the “Transportation” in T3.
“T3’s authentic, mercantile timber-frame design, modern technology, inspiring style, commitment to sustainability, connection to outdoors, flexible and efficient workspaces and expansive amenities have created a new office environment that has become a recruiting and retention tool for tenants such as Amazon and Facebook, located in some of our other T3 projects,” said Alan Kennedy, Hines managing director, in a DLR statement. “T3 is not just an answer to a reimagined office environment but is the new standard for office environments in a post-COVID-19 world.”

The facility has attained LEED Gold certification and a Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification. The site additionally received a WELL Building certification, which awards points based on performance outcomes for various healthy policy, design and operational strategies.
T3 Sterling Road was preceded by T3 Bayside, the neighboring waterfront area project east of downtown. T3 Bayside—this time standing for Timber, Talent and Technology due to the further proximity from public transit—was designed by Danish architecture firm 3XN to be an environmentally immersed working space. The 251,000-square-foot creative office space places a focus on tenant experience, featuring a rooftop patio with panoramic city and lake views, a double-height tenant lounge, conference facility and fitness center, much like T3 Sterling Road.
However, the exterior and accolades set the two facilities apart. While T3 Sterling Road features a more edgy facade, T3 Bayside is a neutral-colored building featuring a geometric array of expansive windows and a lighter aesthetic. In 2022, the facility won the award for “Excellence in Commercial or Institutional Design” at the Waterfront Design Review Panel Awards for the use of timber, which the panel deemed proactive and ambitious while necessary in a time of negative environmental ramifications from traditional construction methods, according to Hines.

DLR Group has collaborated with Hines on six T3 buildings and is in the process of designing and constructing five more across North America. In the coming years, the firm is aiming to work T3 into multifamily housing as well as hospitality spaces after creating a Mass Timber Hotel Prototype in 2023.
According to the firm, the use of mass timber in built environments is only getting started, and designers predict that as building codes catch up to market demand, the sustainable possibilities are endless.
“Mass timber is one of the best tools available for countering the ever-increasing amount of carbon in our atmosphere,” said Bobby Larson, AIA, LEED AP, in a DLR statement. “Utilizing mass timber is an opportunity to offset very carbon-intensive materials like steel and concrete in buildings of scale that, when designed properly, will stay standing for centuries, creating a long-term reservoir for carbon in the built environment.”