Woodscrapers – A New Trend in Building

As part of our continuing blog series, another new development in building trends is woodscrapers (or plyscrapers) that are being built Canada.  In our role as one of the foremost commercial concrete contractors in the Western U.S., The Conco Companies have also had the opportunity to be a part of many innovative architectural projects over the years.  The following information on the leading trends in the building industry is based on an article by WTTW, a Chicago public media organization.     

According to WTTW, a woodscraper is “Unlike the wooden building construction of old, in which long beams were cut from tall trees, these buildings rely on super-strong, engineered beams and panels called cross-laminated timber (CLT) – a kind of plywood on steroids. To make CLT, thin cross-sections of wood are layered with glue in a special cross-configuration that gives it dramatically increased strength, rigidity, and load-bearing capability.”

One of the reasons that Canada has been at the forefront of this new technology of constructing tall buildings out of wood is a recent beetle infestation that killed off many of the country’s pine forests.  With two billion dead trees, the government issued an edict requiring builders to strongly consider using wood in new construction.  Although even without a wood glut, constructing with wood can be a sustainable and renewable building material and also has an advantage of being energy efficient.    

Studies indicate that wood is a viable option for buildings as tall as 30 stories and there are current plans to build the world’s tallest wood building, a ten-story woodscraper in British Columbia.  Once completed the woodscraper will be the new home of the Wood Innovation and Design Center in Prince George and be used as a learning tool to demonstrate the feasibility of building with wood.   

Source:

interactive.wttw.com/tenbuildings/ten-building-trends-could-change-america
condo.ca/bc-woodscraper-10-storeys-tall-will-be-north-americas-tallest-wooden-building/

 

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