Penda, in collaboration with Canadian company Tmber, have proposed what they are calling the Toronto Tree Tower, an 18-story residential block that would stand 62 meters tall, with a modular structure made from cross-laminated timber (CLT), reported The Dezeen. Wood would also clad the building's staggered walls, and trees would grow from the homes' balconies. "The warm, natural appearance of wood and the plants growing on its façade bring the building to life and that could be a model for environmentally-friendly developments and sustainable extensions of our urban landscape," said Penda partner Chris Precht. The Toronto tower would encompass 4,500 square meters of residential area and 550 square meters of public space, which would include a café, a children's daycare center, and community workshops. Penda is renowned for incorporating plants into its architecture. A modular hotel built from bamboo, a tower in India with hanging-garden façades, and a vast network of plant-filled building blocks for Beijing's horticultural expo are among recent proposals. Furthermore, its use of CLT may be a sign of things to come, as architects predict that CLT and other engineered timbers will overtake concrete and glass as this century's architectural "wonder material.” Penda favors this method of construction as it is faster, quieter, uses less waste and is more environmentally friendly. "Our cities are assemblies of steel, concrete, and glass," said Precht. "If you walk through the city and suddenly see a tower made of wood and plants, it will create an interesting contrast." What is a ‘community workshop’? A community workshop is an occasion where people from within a community gather together and engage in some form of interaction which allows them to share their knowledge, experiences and ideas. These workshops can take various forms and perform different functions, including: Information exchange, including both giving information to and collecting information from workshop participants; Consultation with participants about their views and opinions; Teaching / Learning new skills and abilities; Building relationships between participants

Timber constructions are rapidly carving their rightful place in urban environments all over the world, and now, beautiful Sydney is home to the Australia’s largest commercial all-timber building. The International House by Tzannes Architects is a beautiful seven-story building with 7920 square meters total area constructed entirely with engineered or cross laminated timber. Located near the historic heart of the city, the International House is a beautiful all-wood design. With the exception of the single ground retail level, which is made out of conventional concrete, the striking building was constructed with engineered or cross laminated timber, including the floors, columns, walls, roof, elevator shafts, etc. The building is the first timber commercial building of its size in Australia. The project used a massive 3,500 cubic meters of sustainably grown and recycled timber. The architects chose to go with timber for its many sustainable features, but were also determined to create a design whose all-wood aesthetic would serve as an iconic landmark for the city. According to the architects, International House Sydney demonstrates that the commercial real estate market will accept mass timber construction as a viable and exciting alternative to conventional concrete construction, increasing opportunity for architecture to contribute more effectively to a lower carbon and more sustainable future for urban development around the world. Earlier in 2012 Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (mgb), has plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver. He predicted that instead of concrete jungles our cities can become urban forests of wooden skyscrapers. He was right. Last month in Australia, Brisbane held groundbreaking ceremony of world’s tallest wooden office building. When complete in 2018, 45 meters of the 52-meter office tower will qualify as the world’s highest to be held aloft not by steel and concrete, but timber and glue.

At first glance, the warm, luminous development proposed for a Paris site doesn't look much different than any other mixed-use project rising in other cities. But this village of high-rises is unique in that it would be made completely from wood-even the 35-story tower at the center. If completed, the skyscraper named Baobab would be largest and tallest wooden structure on the planet, rising above two other wooden buildings currently proposed for Stockholm and Vienna. The architect behind the wooden village is Michael Green, a designer who's been an evangelical voice for wood's revival. And he's not alone. The new development Created in collaboration with DVVD and real estate developer REI France. Thanks to incredible technological advances over the last decade, wood has become championed as stronger, safer, and more economical than steel. That's because traditional wood beams are being replaced with prefabricated "mass timber," where sheets of wood with alternating grain are laminated atop one another to make a super-strong building material. This makes wood a far better choice for building a structure It not only requires much less energy to manufacture, it comes from a renewable source and can sequester carbon. And in many ways it's more fire-resistant than steel because burning wood creates a layer of insulation in the form of char (much like how trees protect themselves in a forest fire) which is less likely to structurally fail under the same conditions. The Baobab plan is part of Reinventer Paris, a comprehensive redevelopment program for the city that is turning over 23 sites in the city to innovative urban projects. Pershing, the area which the wooden skyscrapers are proposed for, would be part of a larger eco-minded community with affordable housing, urban farming, and transportation connections. The development claims that the environmental benefit of using wood is the climate equivalent of taking 2,207 cars off the road. The 35-story tower, "Baobab," places a heightened focus on community. With a strategic mix of market and social housing, a student hotel, urban agriculture, a bus station, e-car hub, and other amenities, the proposal hopes to "foster the city's vision for a connected, vibrant metropolis" and "define the next era of city building." A gorgeous, game-changing wood building would be well-suited in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower changed people's minds about the possibilities-and beauty-of iron as a building material over a century ago. In previous years Norway, Canada and Austria also announced about plans to build wooden skyscrapers. In 2012 Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at "McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design", announced about plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver. Two years later "Bergen Omegn Building Society" started works on the 14 story wooden structure "Treet" or "The tree", which would rise to 49 meters. This year architecture firm "Rudiger Lainer and Partner" has unveiled plans to build the 84 meters, 24 stories "HoHo" wooden tower in the Seestadt Aspern area of Vienna .

When American engineer William Le Baron Jenney designed the world's first skyscraper in Chicago in 1884, no one believed in his unconventional technologies. But today swapping cement and steel for timber is the vision of a number of environmentally-minded architects who are planning high-rise building across the world. Architecture firm "Rudiger Lainer and Partner" has unveiled plans to build the world's tallest wooden skyscraper in the Seestadt Aspern area of Vienna. The 84 meters, 24 stories "HoHo" tower will house a hotel, apartments, a restaurant, a wellness center and offices. 76 percent of the structure will be constructed from wood, which will save a phenomenal 2,800 tons of CO2 emissions over similar structures built out of steel and concrete. Speaking to the Guardian, project developer Caroline Palfy, of "Kerbler " explained "I think it is important everyone now... thinks in different ways. We have wood, which is a perfect construction material for building. It was used many centuries and it was perfect then and is perfect now." Not only is the material appropriate for construction of such a building, it is radically more environmentally friendly than concrete. According to research from Columbia University, the manufacturing of cement-a key ingredient in concrete-accounts for a whopping five percent of all global CO2 emissions. Trees, on the other hand, absorb CO2 as they grow-so, if wood is sustainably sourced it can serve as an eco-friendly alternative building material. Currently world's highest timber frame apartment building "Forte" at 32 meters completed in 2012 is situated in Melbourne. Another modern wooden building is in London. Called the "Stadthaus", Murray Grove, it's a nine-story residential building that stands at just less than 30 meters. Even the lift shafts and stairwells are made from wood. In previous years Norway and Canada also announced about plans to build wooden skyscrapers. In 2012 Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at "McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design", announced about plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver. Two years later "Bergen ? Omegn Building Society" started works on the 14 story wooden structure "Treet" or "The tree", which would rise to 49 meters.

Instead of concrete jungles could our cities become urban forests of wooden skyscrapers>? Today 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. A Norwegian building society will this month start work on the world's tallest wooden apartment block, a 14-story structure which will rise to 49 meters, easily eclipsing the existing record holder in Melbourne, Australia. 'Treet', or The tree, will this year begin to rise up next to the Byfjorden in Central Bergen, after the Bergen and Omegn Building Society (BOB) begins work this month. As reported the Society it had now sold half of the 62 apartments. Ole Kleppe, who is managing the project for BOB, said that the builders planned to build the apartments around a gigantic timber frame formed of metre-thick columns of wooden 'glulam'. "The news is that we are combining load-bearing structures of glulam with apartments based on modules," he explained. "All other future high-rise timber projects of more than ten stories around the world today are somehow based on a concrete, steel or composite core." Once the modules are fixed in place early next year, the entire building will be wrapped in a glass and metal facade to protect the wooden structures from the notoriously wet Bergen climate. "The project is a pilot project to show how we can build high-rise timber projects that are sustainable," he said. "This project will bind approximately one thousand tons of CO2 in the wooden constructions -- an important contribution to reducing emissions of CO2." Recently a Yale University - led study has found that using more wood and less steel and concrete in building and bridge construction would substantially reduce global carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuel consumption despite an established forest conservation theory. Forte, in Melbourne, became the world's tallest timber frame apartment building at 32 meters, when it was completed at the end of 2012. In 2012 Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (MGB), also announced about plans to build a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver.