Norwegian firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen unveiled their 2022 project for a 100-meter-tall residential building in Switzerland. If no other project surpasses it, upon completion in 2026 it will be the tallest wooden building in the world, dethroning Mjøstårnet, an 18-story building in Norway with a hotel, apartments, offices, and restaurants, designed by Voll Arkitekter. "Data from June 2022 indicates that 1,500 wooden projects are being designed or built in the United States alone.".
After undergoing laboratory treatments to make it more resilient, traditional wood is emerging as one of the essential materials for the architecture of the immediate future. More sustainable, less polluting, and healthier multi-story buildings are already being erected using it as a structural element. Churches, luxury condominiums, social housing… There's no turning back.
For the past few years, we have witnessed a return to more primal architecture: brick, earth, and wood . Wood, after having been scorned during the Industrial Revolution and relegated to private residences and picturesque buildings, is now being rediscovered by studios worldwide, who are designing everything from churches to social housing blocks using it as a structural element, replacing steel or cement. However, the wood used in the 21st century is not solid wood straight from the tree, but rather wood processed in a laboratory—stronger, more resistant, better.
“This material, which sequesters carbon and is highly sustainable, is ‘flawed’ in its natural state, with unpredictable weak points in its grain. That’s why engineered wood—including cross-laminated timber (CLT)—is such an exciting development. It originated from plywood and a concern for the climate. Developed in the 1990s in Austria and Germany, it consists of layers of solid wood, arranged perpendicular to each other and glued together. These layers are used to produce large-scale, prefabricated panels that are solid, strong, stable, and predictable (with the grain running in different directions), yet retain the lightness and organic acoustic and thermal insulation properties of wood. The first architectural experiments with CLT were carried out by Waugh Thistleton Architects in the UK in 2003,” explains Clare Farrow , a writer and curator specializing in architecture, who organized an exhibition on the subject at the Roca Gallery in London in 2018.
With this material, it's now possible to construct multi-story buildings. The Norwegian firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen presented their project in 2022 for a 100-meter-tall apartment building in Switzerland which, if no other project surpasses it, will be the tallest wooden building in the world when completed in 2026, dethroning Mjøstårnet, an 18-story building in Norway with a hotel, apartments, offices, and restaurants, designed by Voll Arkitekter. "Data from June 2022 indicates that 1,500 wooden projects are being designed or built in the United States alone.".
This is a recognition of the need for change as the climate crisis intensifies; not only because this material stores CO2, but also because construction with it is fast, non-toxic, and uses prefabricated components, offering a positive alternative to a construction industry that, in terms of carbon emissions, is one of the planet's biggest polluters, accounting for 39% of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, studies are showing that solid wood structures, contrary to popular belief, are no more susceptible to fire, and that this material can improve the health and well-being not only of those on construction sites, but also of the people who live and work in them,” Farrow emphasizes.
Which countries use the most wood?
The most active countries are those with a long-standing tradition of using solid wood: Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, and Japan; the latter boasting two leading figures in the field: Shigeru Ban and Kengo Kuma. Spain is also taking decisive steps in this direction. The latest is the creation of Mass-Madera, a Spanish network connecting pioneers working with industrialized solid wood, promoted by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) and supported by the Directorate General for Urban Agenda and Architecture of the Spanish Government and the Higher Council of Colleges of Architects. The goal: to build ecologically and decarbonize architecture by connecting producers, developers, builders, and architects.
, the Barcelona-based studio Peris+Toral took a gamble on the unknown for a social housing project in Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona). "It wasn't a competition requirement; at the time, proposing a timber structure was rather risky due to a lack of precedents and prior experience, especially in residential buildings of this scale, but it seemed to us the most suitable structural method for the room arrangement. Innovation is never easy; beyond the technical difficulties, it represents a novelty for all the stakeholders involved in the process, and that generates a certain resistance to change," explain Marta Peris and José Toral. A change that now seems unstoppable.
“This project has received many visits from the private sector. There is already a collective awareness of the need for more sustainable construction, and no one wants to be left behind,” they add. “Wooden architecture should be in the curriculum of every architecture school. It’s not easy to change perceptions, especially regarding our concept of weak and strong materials, but that is the task of innovation, particularly when it is so vital to the health of the planet,” Farrow concludes.
Source: Architecture and Design.
