Chris McQuillan shares research on mass timber hospitals at Site Summit

June 22, 2026

Is mass timber a viable building material for hospitals?

KPMB principal Chris McQuillan will offer insights into that topic on Tuesday, June 23 at Site Summit in Toronto— one of Canada’s leading construction conferences.

As part of “Mass Timber 101: Mass Timber’s Killer Applications,” Chris will join a panel of experts to discuss the latest innovations and challenges shaping the material’s use in construction.

Chris will share findings from a recent test design for a mass timber acute care facility. Undertaken in collaboration with CHM Fire and British Columbia’s Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), the study examined the material’s benefits for healthcare settings and the barriers that must be addressed.

“Unlike concrete or steel, mass timber expedites construction, is produced with minimized consumption of fossil fuels, and has been shown to improve patient outcomes. Despite these advantages, mass timber has not been widely adopted by healthcare,” Chris wrote in late 2025.

The study evaluated mass timber against more conventional structural systems for hospitals, with consideration of structure, cost, scheduling, lifecycle carbon, code compliance, infection control, and biophilic design.

“Mass Timber 101” will be moderated by Joseph Ogilvie, founding principal of Archangel Ventures Inc., and feature David Moses, principal at Moses Structural Engineering.

Event details

Event: Site Summit
Panel: Mass Timber 101: Mass Timber’s Killer Applications
Date & Time: June 23, 2:45 – 3:30 PM
Location: Limberlost Place, 185 Queens Quay East, Floor Ten Event Space, Toronto, Ontario

Learn more and purchase tickets via Site Summit.