Timber Skyscraper Planned For Melbourne
The company Lend Lease last unveiled plans to build the first high rise apartment building in Australia and the tallest in the world using Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), which it says heralds a new era for the construction industry, reported the resource Architecture Design. The new wooden tower called Forte, will be constructed in Victoria Harbour, Melbourne and it will rise over 10 stories, offering 23 boutique residential apartments and 4 townhouses. Designed and built by Lend Lease, the building, due for completion in October 2012, will reflect the contemporary inner-city lifestyle of Victoria Harbour while combining environmental initiatives such as better energy efficiency in terms of heating and cooling.
Building with CLT is seen as a more efficient and environmentally-friendly construction process, which has proven successful in Europe for more than a decade, but has not been undertaken in Australia before. By using CLT, Lend Lease claims, the project, Forte, will reduce CO2 equivalent emissions by more than 1,400 tonnes when compared to concrete and steel - the equivalent of removing 345 cars from our roads.
CLT is an engineered mass timber product and very different to a traditional wood frame. Mass timber - dense solid panels of wood engineered for strength through laminations of different layers - provides significant benefits and has the equivalent structural integrity to concrete. CLT on a weight to strength basis meets, and in some cases exceed, the performance of reinforced concrete, resulting in a very stable and durable structural outcome. Designed and produced in a factory environment means it will also be built 30 percent faster than its material counterparts, while being cleaner and more efficient.
Currently one of the highest modern wooden buildings is in London. Called the Stadthaus, Murray Grove, it's a nine-story residential building that stands at just less than 30 meters (98 feet). Even the lift shafts and stairwells are made from wood.
Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (MGB), also has plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver.
Building with CLT is seen as a more efficient and environmentally-friendly construction process, which has proven successful in Europe for more than a decade, but has not been undertaken in Australia before. By using CLT, Lend Lease claims, the project, Forte, will reduce CO2 equivalent emissions by more than 1,400 tonnes when compared to concrete and steel - the equivalent of removing 345 cars from our roads.
CLT is an engineered mass timber product and very different to a traditional wood frame. Mass timber - dense solid panels of wood engineered for strength through laminations of different layers - provides significant benefits and has the equivalent structural integrity to concrete. CLT on a weight to strength basis meets, and in some cases exceed, the performance of reinforced concrete, resulting in a very stable and durable structural outcome. Designed and produced in a factory environment means it will also be built 30 percent faster than its material counterparts, while being cleaner and more efficient.
Currently one of the highest modern wooden buildings is in London. Called the Stadthaus, Murray Grove, it's a nine-story residential building that stands at just less than 30 meters (98 feet). Even the lift shafts and stairwells are made from wood.
Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (MGB), also has plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver.
