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Around the same time the new world record holder for tall mass timber buildings — the 25-story Ascent tower — is making its much-awaited debut in Milwaukee, another North American design proposal has been revealed in Toronto that would surmount the historic milestone by a... View full entry
A historic milestone in the use of mass timber as a construction material is about to be passed as Korb + Associates Architects’ aptly-named Ascent tower is finally set to open tomorrow, July 15, in Milwaukee. Standing 25 stories and a total of 86.6 meters (284 feet), the tower is now... View full entry
A new study from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has revealed important statistics that provide a clearer picture of the present state of tall mass timber construction across the globe. There are now a total of 66 completed mass timber projects worldwide totaling of... View full entry
When it premiered last fall, LEVER’s new building for the Adidas North American Headquarters in Oregon was talked about as a potential game-changer for an industry still struggling to find answers about the future of workplace design. Celebrated as one of the most inspiring corporate office... View full entry
Fentress Architects’ AIA chapter award-winning Chancery restoration project for the Embassy of Norway has officially opened to the public, representing a first for the 42-year-old Denver-based firm. Situated between the official Vice Presidential Residence and National Cathedral in Washington... View full entry
William McDonough + Partners' new mass timber Apex Plaza project recently celebrated its completion in Charlottesville, Virginia. The 187,000-square-foot structure is now considered to be the largest such CLT project in the eastern United States. Its completion is a major milestone for the... View full entry
Henning Larsen has revealed their design for a new experience center called World of Volvo in the Swedish automaker’s hometown of Gothenburg. Touting a “deep connection” to the design heritage and rich natural landscape of Scandinavia, the massive 236,800-square-foot new facility offers... View full entry
Above our heads, the pillars and struts of the pergola looked like the masts of a gigantic ship—their edges rounded, like huge pencils, to diminish the force of winds that can pummel the tower.
Between the heft of the wooden building and the evanescence of the fog encircling it, the atmosphere was seductively calming—as long as my mind did not linger on the metaphor of the matchbox.
— The New Yorker
The New Yorker takes us on a whirlwind tour of some of the higher-profile mass timber developments that have debuted in recent years. Stops include the future site of Henning Larsen’s Fælledby development outside Copenhagen, the Oslotre As-designed seven-story Valle Wood, and... View full entry
A team of students and faculty at Virginia Tech has completed an innovative observation tower in rural Virginia. The design and delivery of the project saw the development and certification of a new custom timber product, off-site prefabrication, and the discovery of the ruins of a historic... View full entry
There’s ever-growing panoply of efficiency measures — better insulation, improved heating and air-conditioning, less-polluting appliances — that could help the building sector rapidly decarbonize. By 2030, almost all new buildings could consume zero net energy — net meaning there’s some give and take from the grid to equal zero use. That’s a big deal, especially with a corollary switch to electrified forms of transportation. — Bloomberg
The list of new green technologies is long and includes innovations like low-carbon concrete, cross-laminated timber, and living wall systems that have all developed into scalable products over the past ten years. So far, big-name firms like Gensler, Lake|Flato, and KieranTimberlake have... View full entry
Arup has designed and engineered the Netherlands’ tallest timber-hybrid residential building. Completed this year, HAUT is part of the country’s commitment to becoming climate-neutral by 2050, in which the use of timber as a building material has been identified as one of the most... View full entry
A team of academics working in the Digital Structures research group at MIT's Building Technology Program has combined local aesthetic desires with the recent international push to expend increasing amounts of mass timber elements into new construction. Associate professor Caitlin Mueller is... View full entry
Toronto’s Quayside project is back online, almost two years after Sidewalk Labs’ plans to develop the site were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new development will instead be delivered by a consortium led by developers Dream Unlimited and Great Gulf Group, featuring buildings by... View full entry
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), an organization responsible for investing $10 billion in clean energy projects on behalf of the Australian government, is seeking to substantially cut construction-related emissions with a new $214 million program to encourage the use of mass timber in... View full entry
This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service announced a $50 billion plan to fight wildfires. The goal is, in fact, to reduce wildfires. But one of the side effects may be a huge infusion of ecologically harvested wood into the supply chain for building materials. For architects, this firefighting tool could also be a new source of carbon-sequestering wood for sustainable building projects. — Fast Company
The timber industry is currently under tremendous strain to meet demands as suppliers face labor shortages that have triggered high prices for their clients, who are increasingly looking to build bigger and taller buildings using what is considered to be a more sustainable material. The... View full entry
