Scientists are doing the unexpected when they surprise the common beings by the many innovations they undertake. Recently we shared a discovery where a scientist constructed a house using water and currently an architect has designed the tallest wooden skyscraper. Green’s Vancouver-based MGA firm along with French architectural partners DVVD and real estate group REI France recently proposed what they claim would construct the tallest wooden skyscraper in the world for Reinventer Paris, a design competition which sought new ideas for revitalizing architecture in the city. A 35-storeys tall tower at the center of the Baobab complex includes a student hotel, green space, bus station and e-car hub — aims to help solve the French capital’s housing challenges in a sustainable, creative and environmentally-friendly manner.
Some people have compared the concept to the Eiffel Tower in the iconic structures stakes. According to Green, the Eiffel Tower had a huge impact in inspiring architects to build with steel when it debuted as the world’s tallest structure in 1889. Now he hopes Baobab can do the same.
“Eiffel’s vision redefined the skylines of the world, eventually the race for height in places like New York and Chicago in the 1920’s and 30’s and even in new global cities in Asia and the Middle East today,” Green said.
“We love the idea that a wood tower in Paris, however modest in some respects … will help champion a new global wave of building with more sustainable, renewable and beautiful materials,” he added.
The idea of a “plyscraper” may sound far fetched to those unfamiliar with the concept and there are currently no plans to construct the MGA building in Paris. But tall wooden buildings are an architectural development being given increasingly serious consideration in a number of locations around the world. Work is set to begin on the HoHo building, a 275-foot structure made almost entirely from wood in the Austrian capital of Vienna next year. Meanwhile, a 34-storey wooden apartment block could be built in Stockholm by 2023 if architecture firm C.F Moller has its way.
MGA has already built the 97-foot tall Wood innovation and Design Center in Prince George, Northern British Columbia. Other ambitious wood buildings have also sprung up in the likes of Australia and the United Kingdom too. The advantages of wood include its dexterity as a building material as well as its strong environmental credentials. Cross laminated timber — a multiple panel wood product that is used to form the likes of walls, roof and floor panels — in particular is has quickly established itself as a strong, reliable and popular wooden building material.
“Wood, unlike steel and concrete, sequesters carbon dioxide, storing it away for the life of the building it is in,” Green said. “As a renewable material grown by the power of the sun, wood offers us a new way to think about our future.”
Promotional literature relating to Baobab states it would store an estimated 3,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s equivalent to keeping 2,207 cars off the road for a year or operating a home for 982 years, MGA state. The tower would also be constructed using a prefabricated construction method, where components are measured and built in a factory, often with space for doors, windows and wiring already carved into panels, before being rapidly transported and put together on site. This could potentially reduce cost, disruption and build time reports CNN.