Is Wood the Future of Skyscrapers?
Since the 1880s, steel has been the building industry’s standard for high-rise structures. It’s strong, it’s durable, and it looks clean and modern. In downtown Center City, steel office towers with huge glass windows are everywhere. Despite a wealth of structural differences, steel definitely imparts a certain “look.” Here’s a radical thought: what if you could accomplish the same goal (building a skyscraper), but with wood? Sounds insane, right? But a Washington D.C. architect who grew up in Philly says that it might be the material of the future.
Sean McTaggart is an architect at Hickok Cole, which recently designed “Timber Towers” as an entry in the Skyhive Skyscraper Challenge, which, according to the firm’s website, “encouraged participants to re-imagine the role of the skyscraper in the future. Hickok Cole situated their wood-beam high-rise on a property currently rumored to be the site of a 3rd Comcast tower in Center City.
Let’s talk about timber. Massive wooden structures are usually built in large, prefabricated sections that, by being put together offsite, save construction time by around 20 percent. For a big project like Timber Towers, the structure could be topped off in three months’ less time than a comparable steel tower, resulting in less disruption to the neighborhood.
Wood also has tremendous benefits as the only true renewable building material. Your automatic thought is that cutting down trees = bad, right? Well, the reality is that tree farming growth far exceeds annual harvesting, and forests grow enough timber to construct a 20-story building every 13 minutes! Crazy! The thermal efficiency of wood is 15 times that of concrete, and 400 times that of steel, making it more eco-friendly. And, in another counter-intuitive surprise, timber is actually safer in a fire than metal. Unlike light construction wood, which burns quickly, mass wood tends to char, while steel is compromised faster.
As a final benefit, there’s the fact that people are innately attracted to the natural feeling of wood, which is referred to as its biophilic benefit. Therefore, in a wooden tower, building management can charge more per square foot of office space.
Are we going to be seeing gorgeous, innovative wooden skyscrapers like Timber Towers in Center City in the future? Only time will tell. The possibilities, however, are extensive and VERY exciting! I know I personally am looking forward to seeing where these wooden wonders pop up.
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