Swapping cement and steel for timber is the vision of a number of environmentally-minded architects who are planning high-rise buildings across the world.
Architect Michael Green has plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver, while plans are afoot in Norway and Austria for 17- and 20-story buildings that use wood as the main building material, eschewing steel and concrete.
— CNN.com
4 Comments
I am interested to see their solutions for fire protection. (that is not sarcasm, it is probably very interesting)
Heavy timber is naturally flame resistant compared to steel which needs fireproofing. A good sprinkler system is all that you need.
In the US, our building codes are an enormous obstacle that will not be easily overcome, if at all. Under the IBC, a commercial building of heavy timber construction may not be taller than 6 stories...
Matthew, what you are looking for is char-depth specifications. i'm working through a potentialy timber-framed commercial building at the moment (4 storeys). our fire engineer is specifying a thickness of timber in excess of the structural thickness. currently our weak point is the steel shear plates we have at bea/column connections
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