Tall Wood 34 Storey Skyscraper Proposed For Stockholm

Wood construction is all the rage these days, and for good reason; wood is renewable and it stores carbon. New technologies like Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) have busted the traditional limits on height. Now architects and engineers are pushing that height limit: Berg | C.F. Møller Architects and Dinell Johansson have proposed a 34 storey tower for Stockholm, their entry in a limited competition for an “ultra-modern residential high-rise building.”

The architects describe the virtues of wood construction (with a little bit of exaggeration) :

That is perhaps pushing the envelope a bit; while wood structures are engineered to char in a fire, which protects the wood while leaving enough for structural strength, it might be a stretch to say is is more fire resistant than concrete. But it is certainly not as flammable as the concrete people keep saying.

It does look warm and comfortable, more like a cottage than an apartment. I do wish there were some sprinkler heads showing though.

The plan is fascinating. There is no internal corridor that wastes a lot of space; just a little elevator lobby. The fire exits are reached by using the balcony that runs around the building. When I was a builder in Toronto a while back, I tried this at 20 Niagara Street; It made for wonderful spaces with windows front and back, but it was murder getting approved with a building code that didn’t anticipate elevator lobbies without access to stairs.

Other green features:

More at Berg | C.F. Møller Architects