Timber In The City

As synthetic materials and mutant and hybrid concoctions attain prominence in our daily lives—in our handheld devices, cooking utensils, vehicles, even things as simple as our shopping bags—the design and construction industries have instead re-embraced the familiar, the conventional—wood, which has regained prominence through innovations in engineering and construction methodologies. Technology is now commonly used—and often (though not always) affordably used—to cut, perforate, assemble, erect, and even fabricate materials in a manner not previously possible. Wood is one such material, and Timber in the City documents both the imaginings of those in the nascence of their education and practice and the executed work of design professionals at the leading edge of architecture. These designers, regardless of the duration of their immersion in the field, have imaginatively rethought the means by which we build and the methods by which we define space merely through differing deployments of a familiar building material.

One of the most critical decisions an architect must make when designing a building is the type of structural system that will be employed throughout. The main systems that an architect will consider are steel, concrete, and wood. Today, steel and concrete dominate the market for mid-rise buildings, often dismissing wood for its perceived weakness and expensive costs. And yet, there has been a movement in recent years among architects and designers to use an innovation in wood structures known as mass timber: a structural system that uses large wood panels, beams, and columns. Their justification is not rooted in strength or costs, but in a more dire need: our environment. Through the photosynthesis process, trees absorb carbon dioxide, the main culprit of climate change, and when made into lumber products, the wood sequesters the carbon. On the contrary, steel and concrete have manufacturing processes that are catastrophic to our environment. With such strong reasoning to back wood construction, it seems that architects today would all specify wood structural systems in their buildings. In reality, the decision is much more complex, and there are many factors that are still preventing a wide-scale use of mass timber. Along with sustainability, other critical topics such as structural capabilities, costs, timelines, life safety and code requirements are all considered by architects. It is imperative to investigate the problems that are hindering mass timber, so that these issues can be resolved. With the population increasing exponentially, and the environment suffering from years of abuse, it is important that we find a way to encourage more mid-rise buildings, especially in urban areas, to use a mass timber structure. A rising percentage of the population is searching for affordable housing, and mass timber might be the most sustainable solution possible.

Over the past 10-15 years a renaissance in wood architecture has occurred with the development of new wood building systems and design strategies, elevating wood from a predominantly single-family residential idiom to a rival of concrete and steel construction for a variety of building types, including high rises. This new solid wood architecture offers unparalleled environmental as well as construction and aesthetic benefits, and is of growing importance for professionals and academics involved in green design. Solid Wood provides the first detailed book which allows readers to understand new mass timber/massive wood architecture. It provides: historical context in wood architecture from around the world a strong environmental rationale for the use of wood in buildings recent developments in contemporary fire safety and structural issues insights into building code challenges detailed case studies of new large-scale wood building systems on a country-by-country basis. Case studies from the UK, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italy, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia highlight design strategies, construction details and unique cultural attitudes in wood design. The case studies include the most ambitious academic, hospitality, industrial, multi-family, and wood office buildings in the world. With discussions from leading architectural, engineering, and material manufacturing firms in Europe, North America and the South Pacific, Solid Wood disrupts preconceived notions and serves as an indispensable guide to twenty-first century wood architecture and its environmental and cultural benefits.

Over the past 10-15 years a renaissance in wood architecture has occurred with the development of new wood building systems and design strategies, elevating wood from a predominantly single-family residential idiom to a rival of concrete and steel construction for a variety of building types, including high rises. This new solid wood architecture offers unparalleled environmental as well as construction and aesthetic benefits, and is of growing importance for professionals and academics involved in green design. Solid Wood provides the first detailed book which allows readers to understand new mass timber/massive wood architecture. It provides: historical context in wood architecture from around the world a strong environmental rationale for the use of wood in buildings recent developments in contemporary fire safety and structural issues insights into building code challenges detailed case studies of new large-scale wood building systems on a country-by-country basis. Case studies from the UK, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italy, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia highlight design strategies, construction details and unique cultural attitudes in wood design. The case studies include the most ambitious academic, hospitality, industrial, multi-family, and wood office buildings in the world. With discussions from leading architectural, engineering, and material manufacturing firms in Europe, North America and the South Pacific, Solid Wood disrupts preconceived notions and serves as an indispensable guide to twenty-first century wood architecture and its environmental and cultural benefits.

This comprehensive, hands-on guide, filled with practical architectural, engineering, and construction guidance, brings you up to date on design, materials, codes, and applications. With expertise from a leading timber architect, a top designer/builder of heavy timber frames, a wood scientist, and several renowned timber engineers, this book provides a Conception-to-Completion Professional Blueprint essential to anyone interested in or involved with timber construction.

As the planet becomes more urbanized than ever before, tall buildings will continue to be essential to providing the level of housing, office, and retail space required to adequately serve dense populations. But if we are to simultaneously curtail the significant amounts of carbon released into the atmosphere by the building industry, these emerging buildings must incorporate materials that are equal parts renewable and resilient. The advent of mass timber products has provided such an opportunity, one with the promise of reinventing conventional approaches to not only tall building design and construction, but city-building as a whole. The papers within this book detail some of the cutting-edge mass timber innovations across energy-efficiency, structural improvements, technological advancements, and code and standard updates.This and other CTBUH Timber Rising outputs are funded and made possible by a grant from the USDA Forest Service.