Plans are currently being worked out in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to build the world's tallest wooden skyscraper. The currently unnamed skyscraper has been designed by Michael Green Architecture (MGA), whose founder is a pioneer of modern timber construction and has been instrumental in popularising modern large timber buildings in North America.
According to Michael Green Architecture, the new building will have up to 55 floors. To put this into perspective, the tallest wooden building in the world, also located in Milwaukee, is the Ascent, which has only 25 floors. So it will be considerably taller. The tower will be partially covered in greenery and have multiple terraces. It is also part of a larger project by Neutral that will be built on the site of an existing garage.
Multi-purpose development
The proposed development represents a significant investment of over 700 million US dollars and comprises several mixed-use buildings. The project, which is planned in several phases, would comprise up to 750 residential units, approximately 17,600 square metres of office space, 3,700 square metres of retail space, 300 hotel rooms, parking spaces and vibrant public squares and footpaths. MGA is leading the design.
It is not yet clear whether the skyscraper will include concrete for stability, but with such a height it is to be expected. The tallest all-wood building is still Norway's 85.4m-high Mjøstårnet, and anything higher has so far used at least some concrete reinforcement.
Any concerns about fire safety with a wooden skyscraper are unnecessary. Modern solid wood (such as glulam and laminated wood) is manufactured in factories and consists of many layers of wood glued together to form a much stronger wooden beam. These perform even better than steel in case of fire because of the way it carbonises instead of igniting completely.
