Concrete, an essential building material, has for decades offered us the possibility of shaping our cities quickly and effectively, allowing them to rapidly expand into urban peripheries and reach heights previously unimagined by mankind. Today, new timber technologies are beginning to deliver similar opportunities – and even superior ones – through materials like Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT).
To better understand the properties and benefits of CLT, we talked with Jorge Calderón, Industrial Designer and CRULAMM Manager. He discusses some of the promising opportunities that CLT could provide architecture in the future.
77 Wade Avenue. Image Courtesy of Klokwerk Digital Inc.
Bogdan Newman Caranci have designed a new mass timber office building in Toronto that will become one of Canada's tallest. Dubbed 77 Wade Avenue, the project is being developed by Next Property Group and will include 150,000 square feet across 8 floors. Following 3XN's T3 Bayside project that will rise to 42 meters in height, BNC's office will be among the tallest modern mass timber office and commercial buildings in the country. The design celebrates the use of mass-timber construction within the ever-evolving architecture of Canada.
Structural timber is in the midst of a renaissance; an ironic trend given that timber is arguably the most ancient of building materials. But new innovations in structural timber design have inspired a range of boundary-pushing plans for the age-old material, including everything from bridges to skyscrapers. Even more crucially, these designs are on the path to realization, acceding to building codes that many (mistakenly) view as restrictive to the point of impossibility.
The timber structures of today aren't just breaking records - they're doing it without breaking the rules.
The potential for mass timber to become the dominant material of future sustainable cities has also gained traction in the United States throughout 2018. Evolving codes and the increasing availability of mass timber is inspiring firms, universities, and state legislators to research and invest in ambitious projects across the country.
https://www.archdaily.com/905601/4-projects-that-show-mass-timber-is-the-future-of-american-citiesNiall Patrick Walsh
Australia’s largest engineered timber commercial building has opened in Brisbane, designed by Bates Smart. At 10 stories, and 45 meters in height, the “25 King” open plan office complex is the tallest timber structure in Australia, and “establishes new frontiers in the design of commercial buildings.
The scheme’s aesthetic is centered on the goal of “bringing a clear expression of its exposed timber structure to the building’s transparent envelope and promoting a warmer, more natural workplace environment of the future.”
Oregon has become the first state in the U.S. to allow timber buildings to rise higher than six stories without special consideration. The recent addendum to the state's building code is the result of Oregon’s statewide alternate method (SAM), a program that allows for alternate building techniques to be used after an advisory council has approved the “technical and scientific facts of the proposed alternate method.” The decision stands as a precedent for future construction across the United States.
MIT Mass Timber Design, a cross-disciplinary design workshop at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have developed a building prototype that aims to tackle the world’s growing energy crisis, “one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century.” Extensively using the wood-based building design and construction technology mass timber - a method growing in popularity within North America - the project utilizes the “efficiency, speed, precision and versatility” of prefabricated timber construction elements to realize a multi-functional, sustainable building. The longhouse typology, often one of the first permanent structures of a civilization, is a common across the world, but in adapting its construction to face modern-day issues, the team hopes to create a space that “builds upon this rich cultural icon.”
This year’s Maine Mass Timber Design Competition is intended to generate design ideas and test implementation of an emerging technology that hold specific promise for the state economy.
DESIGN ABSTRACT
Remote Mass Timber Wilderness Lodge - Open Ideas Competition
Maine Huts & Trails maintains a network of backcountry trails and remote wilderness lodges woven through the woods and mountains of western Maine that provide a unique opportunity to explore and discover this beautiful region. The goal of this year’s competition is to study and develop a design concepts for a new hut on a established backcountry site, as
Imagine a sports stadium that could expand and contract with its fan base and team’s fortunes, one that could pick up and move to greener (and more lucrative) pastures.
Given team owners’ history of playing fans against each other, making stadiums more mobile isn’t likely to give pennant-wavers a sense of security, but the concept is an incredible breakthrough for building technology. Endlessly modular and made of ultralow-impact mass timber, this vision of low-carbon construction, conceived by engineered-wood manufacturer Rubner Holzbau and prefabricated stadium designer Bear Stadiums, could soon materialize at a soccer pitch near you.
Brock Commons Tallwood House | Photo: KKLaw; Prefabricated panels aid in a project’s efficiency.
Wood as a building material is experiencing a bit of a renaissance. Though elemental and deceivingly simple, applied technology has transformed the building material. If you have questions about how to choose and use wood, Think Wood's mission is to provide access to the expanding pool of research and information.
In support of this year’s AIA theme, Blueprint for Better Cities, Think Wood is at the AIA Conference on Architecture to share research and resources on the benefits of wood and how it offers better solutions for the communities where we work, live and play. If you're at the conference be sure to stop by the Wood Pavilion at booth 757. If you can't make but are interested in learning more, read on to see the benefits of wood.
https://www.archdaily.com/896903/the-benefits-of-mass-timber-building-on-show-at-aia-conference-on-architecture-2018AD Editorial Team
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