The tallest and largest buildings made of glued timber are being built mainly in Europe, where the Austrian woodworking industry sets the tone, and in Canada, where the research organization of the well-known proponent of wooden multi-storey construction, the architect Michael Green, is actively working; Australia also recently built a 10-story wooden residential building, and it is only from the US that there is no news of high-rise timber construction.
The American forestry industry (Softwood Lumber Board and Binational Softwood Lumber Council) decided to fix this: in cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), it announced a competition for a building of at least 24 meters using glued, LVL-, LSL- or CLT-wood. According to the organizers, the realized high-rise building as a vivid example of the latest technological advances should give impetus to the development of wood construction, which, in the long term, will move the entire industry forward, increase the number of jobs and employment of the rural population, and accelerate the regeneration of forests. According to Michael Green, the only obstacle to the wave of timber construction today is the lack of good publicity.
Such advertising should be two projects that have divided the prize-winning place - "475 West 18th" from architects SHoP and "Framework" from Lever Architecture. Both teams-finalists received a grant of $ 1.5 million to compensate for the costs of the first stage - research, design and search for structural solutions. This stage is the most important, since it is he who slows down the industry and carries the main additional costs compared to traditional methods of construction: few are willing to invest in researching new building materials, in engineering calculations of infrequently used schemes and finding loopholes in existing regulatory documents. Since the goal of the competition was to select a team that would not only present the best architectural solution, but also be able to implement it, the contestants had to enlist the support of local authorities at an early stage: the existing norms limit buildings with a wooden supporting structure to six floors, but exceptions will be made for the laureates, which may later become the rules.
475 West 18th, New York, NY
Developer - 130-134 Holdings LLC and Spiritos Properties, SHoP Architects, constructions - Arup, engineering systems - Icor Associates, environmental consultant - Atelier Ten.
In the fall of 2016, construction of a 10-story, 36-meter residential building is to begin in Manhattan overlooking the famous High Line Park. On a total area of 4,645 m2 there will be a commercial first level, and fifteen 3-, 4- and 5-room apartments - on the remaining nine: judging by the location of the house and the area of the apartments, this will be a very high-class housing. The mesh of the frame is reinforced with dark wood on the facades, and the interiors are decorated with large open surfaces of natural wood. The project provides for a two-fold reduction in energy consumption relative to current regulations: this should lead the building to the "platinum" LEED certificate.
Framework, Portland, Oregon
Developer - Beneficial State Bancorp Bank and Home Forward Investment Company, Architects - Lever Architects, Structures - KPFF, Engineering Systems - PAE, Consultant - Arup.
Lever Architecture has offered to rebuild a property bank-owned building in Portland. The new 12 floors with a total area of 8361 m2 will have a mixed function with five office and five residential levels, a public roof and a first floor open to the public, which will house a permanent exhibition on the design and construction of high-rise timber buildings. Unlike another finalist in the competition, Framework is proposing the development of “affordable” housing, which may be intended for woodworkers who are directly involved in the production of the object itself. The 40-meter building has a load-bearing glued post-and-beam frame and CLT slabs up to 15 meters long. The estimated completion date for construction is December 2017.
It is not possible to describe in more detail the appearance or space-planning solution of the projected buildings, since neither the authors nor the organizers of the competition disclose the drawings and do not provide detailed information. The possible cost of such objects, judging by the completed European buildings, ranges from $ 9 million to $ 33 million.
