The rise of the Plyscraper

Once upon a time, wood was our staple construction material. These days it has all but been replaced by steel and concrete. That should have been that for wood, relegated to feature homes and log cabins….but wood is making a comeback: not just for homes but for tall buildings. New timber innovation has given birth to the age of the plyscraper.

In 2012 Australia held the record for the tallest timber building in the world at just 10-stories.?Today Norway holds the record with their 18-story Mj?st?rnet building. These may be humble beginnings compared with the epic 148-story Burj Khalifa in Dubai (soon to be surpassed in height by Calatrava's Dubai Creek Tower) but the resurgence of timber and its engagement in tall buildings is interesting: Why now?....

Timber innovated itself!

Timber is now strong: cross-laminated timber combines layers of glued wood with the grain of each layer rotated 90 degrees to give it enhanced strength, comparable to steel.

Timber is easy to use: it is lighter than steel, making it easier to transport, easier and faster to work with and the depth of foundation required to support the building can be reduced due to weight savings. Furthermore, it is a very easy material to manipulate lending itself to prefabrication and faster erection on site.

Timber is environmentally friendly: steel is 90% sourced from large scale mining of non-renewable iron ore below ground. Trees however are renewable, easy to access, and can be sustainably sourced. Its availability, renewability, lightness and constructibility all contribute to a lower carbon foot than steel. It is also a better insulator than steel which reduces the need for climate control in buildings, saving energy.

Timber is safe: aside from its manual handling and constructibility advantages, timber is fire safe. This sounds counter intuitive, but innovations in fire protection coating mean that timber buildings are now up to 50 times more fire resistant than equivalent concrete buildings.

It is clear then as to why there is a resurgence in timber with an increasing number of landmark buildings engaging timber design. It has reinvented itself as an alternative that is both competitive and distinctive, but there remain challenges to overcome in an industry that is historically slow to embrace innovation. The antiquated myths around timber remain in public perception. It will take a sustained effort and a shift in mindset for insurers, building codes and clients to recognise these benefits and allow the material to reach its full economic potential. Until then it’s the visionary Plyscraper pioneers like Canada, Norway, UK, Germany and Australia who will continue leading the way to the future.