Plans for wooden skyscraper in Tokyo
The latest thing fixating architects from around the world is timber. This is a very good thing; the further we can get from the notion that construction and sustainability are separate worlds, the better. Timber is the oldest and most sustainable building material we have.
The materials may be old, but the ways in which we are using it now – for instance, cross-laminated timber – are new and exciting. Architects are a crucial part of this, coming up with new ideas and designs which push the boundaries and help to spur the imagination on.
Impressive plans for taller and taller buildings are appearing all over the world, but the latest idea from Sumimoto Forestry Co. and architecture firm Nikken Sekkei aims to top them all. The proposed 350 metre tall, 70 storey tower, known as the W350 Project, is an example of “urban development that is kind for humans,” according to the developer.
Tokyo is one of the world’s largest conurbations and is already home to all sorts of innovative and futuristic buildings. W350 Project will only add to this progressive tableau.
The tower will be a wood-steel hybrid, weighted 9:1 in favour of timber, and be designed to deal with the seismic activity that so regularly and dramatically rocks Tokyo and Japan as a whole. The initial CGI renderings show large, bright apartments which should do wonders for residents’ wellbeing. As well as apartments there will be public spaces on several levels of the apartment and retail, hotel and leisure facilities included as part of the mixed use development.
However, this is not meant to give the impression that the tower will be built anytime soon. The project is designed to be completed in 2041 – for the 350th anniversary of Sumimoto Forestry Co.’s formation – and it is estimated that the cost will be at least £4bn.
Whilst it is likely that new technologies and building methods will bring the cost down by the time they get around to building, it is equally true that W350 Project is unlikely to be either the tallest or the most impressive timber development by 2041. In fact, the timber construction sector is advancing so rapidly that it is hard to see a timber skyscraper even being noteworthy by then.
So is this more than a simple PR opportunity for the architects? Arguably not, but it is still important that big timber engineering projects get into the press. The more people see them, the more people will want them. Public pressure will be yet another thing convincing developers that the future lies with trees and will hopefully assist in bringing about a change.
© Sumitomo Forestry Co.
