6ixDesign Engineering
Every good building starts with a sound structure. 6ixDesign Engineering provides structural design and stamped drawings for homes, multiplexes and commercial buildings across Toronto and the GTA. Because we work alongside our own architects, your structure is planned with the design, not added after it.
Planning to read up first? Read our structural engineering guide, or see our architectural design service.
Lakeshore Tower, Toronto
Structural engineering in Toronto covers everything that keeps a building standing: foundations, floors, walls, beams, columns and roofs.
A structural engineer Toronto owners hire early checks that every load in a design, from people and furniture to snow and wind, travels safely down to the ground. At 6ixDesign Engineering, that work sits next to architecture. As a result, the structure and the layout are resolved together, not one after the other.
Most projects need engineering drawings for a building permit. The Ontario Building Code sets the minimum requirements, and the City of Toronto reviews each application against them. You can read the code on the Ontario e-Laws site and the City's steps on its building permit page.
Our structural drawings are stamped by a professional engineer, a title regulated by Professional Engineers Ontario. The stamp tells the City that a licensed engineer takes responsibility for the design. It also gives your contractor drawings they can price and build from.
If you also need the full drawing set for submission, see our building permit drawings service. Structural engineering Toronto projects move fastest when the architecture, structure and permit set are prepared together.
Beam and post design for open-concept renovations.
Second-storey, rear and side additions, including checks on the existing structure.
For added ceiling height, new suites and walkouts.
Footings, foundation walls and slabs on grade.
Cracks, sagging floors and condition assessments before you buy or renovate.
Open-concept renovations are the most common reason homeowners call a residential structural engineer. Before a wall comes out, the engineer confirms whether it carries floor or roof loads. If it does, the load has to go somewhere else: a steel or engineered-wood beam, supported by posts and footings that can take the weight.
Load bearing wall removal in Toronto needs a building permit, so the beam design and calculations become part of your application. We confirm what the wall carries during a site visit. Then we size the beam and check the posts and footings below it.
A second-storey addition adds weight to walls and foundations built decades ago. For that reason, we check the existing structure before we design anything new. Rear and side additions raise a different question: how the new foundation ties into the old one. Both are easier to solve on paper than on site.
Planning the architecture too? Our architectural design team can draw the addition while we engineer it.
Many Toronto basements have low ceilings. Underpinning extends the foundation deeper so the floor can be lowered, which opens the way for a new suite or walkout. An underpinning engineer Toronto homeowners rely on has to sequence the work carefully, because the house sits on the foundation while it is being modified.
Our drawings show that sequence, so your contractor can follow it step by step. Underpinning engineer Toronto searches often start with a basement apartment plan, so we also coordinate with the suite layout.
New foundations need footings, foundation walls and slabs on grade designed for the building above. Separately, a structural review helps when you see cracks or sagging floors, or when you want a condition assessment before you buy.
It tells you what is cosmetic and what is not, before you commit to a purchase or a renovation budget.
Toronto's multiplex permissions have created demand for fourplexes, sixplexes and low-rise rental buildings. However, these buildings have structural needs a single-family home doesn't:
Fire separations and the assemblies that carry them.
Transfer beams and stacked unit layouts.
Longer spans and heavier loads in wood, steel and concrete.
Coordination with sprinkler, mechanical and plumbing routes.
We've engineered multiplexes such as Leroy Sixplex and Norwood Sixplex, and we design for efficient construction.
A multiplex stacks several homes in one building, so the structure has to do more. Walls between units carry both loads and fire separations. Floors above one unit are the ceiling of the next. Multiplex structural engineering therefore starts with the unit layout.
When units stack cleanly, the structure stays simple. When they do not, transfer beams pick up the load and carry it to where the supports are.
Most fourplexes and sixplexes are framed in wood, with steel where spans are long or openings are wide. Low-rise buildings may add concrete for foundations, podiums or parking levels.
We choose the material for each part of the building based on span, load, fire rating and cost. Then we draw it so the contractor can build it efficiently. That is what multiplex structural engineering should deliver.
Sprinklers, ducts and plumbing all need paths through the structure. Because our engineers and architects work on the same project from the first sketch, those paths are planned early. That is the practical value of architectural engineering under one roof: fewer conflicts and fewer changes on site.
Exploring a multiplex? See our multiplex design, fourplex and sixplex design pages.
New openings, mezzanines, rooftop units and equipment loads.
Steel and concrete design for low- and mid-rise buildings.
Commercial buildings carry heavier loads over longer spans than houses. Retail plazas, offices and mixed-use buildings often combine steel and concrete, and each tenant improvement brings new demands on the structure.
Cutting a new opening in a wall, adding a mezzanine or placing a rooftop unit all change the loads on what is already there. We check the existing structure, design the reinforcement and document it for the permit.
For commercial projects that start with design, our architectural design service and our engineers work as one team. Together, they keep the structure, the services and the budget in step.
Tell us about your project and send any drawings you have. If an existing structure is involved, we visit to see what is there.
Next, we design the beams, columns, foundations or reinforcement and run the calculations behind them.
Then we align the structure with the architecture and the mechanical, sprinkler and plumbing routes.
After that, the stamped drawings go to the City, and we answer plans examiner comments.
Finally, we review critical stages, such as footings, framing and steel, during construction.
Structural drawings and calculations stamped by a professional engineer, ready for permit.
Answers to City plans examiner comments.
Shop drawing reviews and site reviews during construction.
Clear, buildable details your contractor can price accurately.
When the architect and structural engineer work separately, conflicts show up on site: beams that clash with ducts, or columns in the wrong place.
Our architects and engineers work on the same project from the first sketch. As a result, you get fewer revisions, faster permits and a more predictable build. For background, read our structural engineering guide, or see how our MEP team and architects join the same set.
Whether you need one beam or a full multiplex package, structural engineering Toronto projects work best when engineering starts early. If you are comparing options, you can also browse our project stories to see the buildings behind the drawings.
If the wall is load-bearing, yes. You'll need engineered beam and post design and a building permit. In addition, we can confirm whether a wall is load-bearing during a site visit.
Fees depend on scope. For example, a single beam design costs far less than a full multiplex structural package. Once we know your project, we'll give you a fixed-fee quote.
Yes. Our structural drawings are sealed by a professional engineer and prepared for City permit submission.
Yes. We often act as the structural consultant for other designers' projects, as well as our own.
Yes. We review critical stages, such as footings, framing and steel, and then issue the field review letters the City may require.
Tell us about your project and send any drawings you have. After that, we'll reply with scope and a quote.
