Spreading like wildfire: Why wooden skyscrapers are springing up across the world
(CNN)Wood is being billed as the answer to creating greener cities — lightweight and sustainable, it is even said to be more fire resistant than steel.
The newest addition to the timber trend is a proposed 19-storey structure that will be built in the Swedish city of Skelleftea.
Designed by architecture firm White Arkitekter, it was the winning submission in a competition to design a cultural center and hotel in the Swedish city.
The “Sida vid Sida” — its name translated to side by side” — submission was praised for paying tribute to the city’s rich local timber industry, and the multiple design benefits attributed to wood as a building material.
Once complete, the 19-storey structure is expected to become the tallest wooden building in the Nordic countries.
Spreading like wildfire
An explosion of timber towers, either built or proposed, has gripped the architecture world over the past five years, every one seemingly a recorder holder in some respect.
In 2012, the 10-story, 104-feet-high Forte residential block was erected overlooking Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour.
It was the world’s tallest timber building until The Treet in Central Bergen, Norway, stole that title in 2014, with an extra four stories.
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