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Despite the fact that mass timber testing has consistently shown that the material performs better than required in fire and structural situations, the government of the United Kingdom is considering imposing new height limitations for mass timber structures in the aftermath of the Grenfell... View full entry
The Quayside project developed for the Toronto waterfront by Alphabet-backed Sidewalk Labs has been officially called off. In a Medium post announcing the death of the project, Sidewalk Labs CEO Daniel L. Doctoroff writes that the economic collapse that has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic... View full entry
The recent recipients of the 2020 Pritzker Prize, Grafton Architects, have been chosen by the University of Arkansas to partner with Modus Studio to design the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation. Founders Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are... View full entry
The government of France is set to require that all new public buildings must be made at least 50% from wood or other sustainable materials from 2022 as it pushes for sustainable urban development.
The local government in Paris had already pledged a greater use of natural materials such as wood, straw and hemp, and any buildings higher than eight storeys built for the 2024 Paris Olympics must be made entirely of timber.
— Global Construction Review
As part of President Emmanuel Macron's climate action plan, a new measure announced by the country's Minister for Towns and Housing Julien Denormandie requires all new public buildings financed by the French State to contain at least 50% wood or other organic material, such as straw or hemp, by... View full entry
There is cross-laminated timber (CLT), which looks like inch-thick strips of heartwood arranged like a Jenga set to produce a block that is pretty much the definition of the word solid. Or glu-lam, used to make structural beams that are like extremely strong plywood, and LVL—laminated veneer lumber—which makes excellent heavy beams and had formed the skeleton of the apartment building. — National Geographic
Saul Elbein dives into the growing industry of mass timber and talks with architects, both abroad and in the U.S., that are already using the new materials to design buildings of today. Elbein also chats with those imaging cities of the future, full of "standardized, customizable, mid-rise... View full entry
The London-based architecture firm, PLP Architecture, recently won the international Delftseplein competition for its hybrid tower project known as "Tree House." The $177m (£137m/€160m) project will stand at 459 feet (140 meters) and will be constructed using mass timber and concrete... View full entry
Boston-based architecture practice Leers Weinzapfel Associates recently completed the construction of the 202,027-square-foot University of Arkansas Adohi Hall, noted to be the "first large-scale mass timber residence hall and living learning setting" as well as the "largest cross laminated timber... View full entry
The Pacific Northwest has become a region many architects and designers are drawn to thanks to its amazing nature, ever-growing tech economy, and its penchant for low-impact and sustainable design practices. Continuing from our regional Spotlight on Seattle coverage Archinect has curated... View full entry
Armed with €10m in EU funding, a consortium of 21 European companies and organisations has formed to try and make timber the material of choice for multi-storey buildings instead of steel and concrete.
Their aim over the next four years is to remove barriers to timber construction by developing standard, industrialised timber building systems, while documenting the environmental, economic and social benefits.
— Global Construction Review
The multinational, pan European innovation project, called Build-in-Wood, aims to "make wood the common choice of material for construction of multi-story buildings," reports Global Construction Review. "We’re not trying to create the world’s tallest wood building," project coordinator Niels... View full entry
Oregon State University (OSU) has opened a new 17,500-square-foot research and fabrication lab designed by Michael Green Architecture (MGA) dedicated to mass timber design, engineering, fabrication, and construction. The A.A. "Red" Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Laboratory, as the... View full entry
"Having built projects in the U.S. will eventually take away the novelty and reinforce that tall wood buildings are held to the same standards for safety and performance as buildings made from other materials," Parsons told Construction Dive. "This is happening in Europe, where tall wood buildings have been built for many years." — Construction Dive
The Milwaukee Plan Commission and the Neighborhoods and Development Committee recently approved changes to New Land Enterprises' Ascent project, a wood tower that is due to be the tallest of its kind in North America, Construction Dive reports The Korb + Associates-designed tower was... View full entry
The award grants funding to a faculty member — or team of faculty members — to conduct research that investigates materials or sustainability. Vassallo was selected for the award for his project “Tall Timber.” — Boston Real Estate Times
Spanish architect, writer, and assistant professor at Rice University Jesús Vassallo was selected as the recipient of the Shepley Bulfinch Award. Founded in 1952, Shepley Bulfinch is an international architecture firm that focuses on sustainable design practices. Vassallo has committed much of... View full entry
Sidewalk Labs, Snøhetta, Michael Green Architecture, and Heatherwick Studio have unveiled a controversial $1.3 billion plan to reprogram a portion of Toronto's industrial waterfront into a new smart city prototype that envisions a wireless, data-driven, and mass timber-filled future for the... View full entry
He said the substitution of concrete and steel with wood and the long-term carbon storage in mass timber buildings make up about 75 percent of the total benefit, and the forestry end, if executed sustainably, about 25 percent. — Yale - E360
Jim Robbins talks to the experts about embodied carbon, life-cycle assessments and worries about monocultures of "industrial-type forestry". View full entry
A downtown Milwaukee high-rise has found support from an unlikely source: the United States Department of Agriculture.
The department’s Forestry Service division announced this week that it had awarded 41 grants totaling $8.9 million to businesses, universities, non-profits and tribal partners in 20 states to “create jobs, support fire-safe communities, restore healthy forest conditions, and spur environmentally sound innovation.”
— Urban Milwaukee
Part of the grant will be allocated to Ascent, a potentially record-breaking mass timber tower in Milwaukee proposed by New Land Enterprises (previously on Archinect). Image: Korb + Associates Architects."The funds will be used to support engineering work on the proposed 21-story, 201-unit... View full entry
