The Working Centre - St. John's Kitchen

Part of The Working Centre’s redevelopment, the St. John’s Kitchen uses mass timber to create a warm, welcoming community space for people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.

The 6,065 sq. ft. building replaces St. John’s Kitchen’s former second-floor location with an accessible, open-concept dining hall at ground level. It forms part of a larger “campus of care” that brings together 44 units of transitional housing, health and outreach services, meal programs and community gathering spaces.

For the kitchen and dining hall, the project team wanted to avoid the institutional character often associated with social-service facilities. Exposed wood, generous glazing and natural light help create a space that feels warm, calming and welcoming while meeting the durability requirements of a heavily used community facility.

Mass Timber at the Heart of the Kitchen
The new St. John’s Kitchen features a mass timber structural system incorporating CLT roof panels and glulam columns, complemented by inverted wood trusses with steel king posts over the cafeteria. This hybrid solution enables longer spans with fewer visual interruptions, creating a bright, open dining space while allowing the timber structure to remain an important part of the architecture.

Element5 supplied approximately the CLT and glulam for the project and was engaged early to assist with technical design and cost assessments. Prefabrication also supported a rapid construction schedule, with the mass timber components installed in less than a week, an important advantage on a constrained downtown site. 

Building With Purpose
Sustainability was another important driver behind the use of mass timber. The broader redevelopment project targets Net Zero Carbon performance and incorporates a high-performance building envelope, efficient mechanical systems and on-site solar generation.

For St. John’s Kitchen, however, the value of mass timber goes beyond sustainability and construction efficiency. Its exposed wood structure helps create a welcoming place where people can gather, share a meal and connect with their community, supporting The Working Centre’s larger goal of creating not simply shelter and services, but a sense of home.