ABSTRACT

Over the past 10-15 years a renaissance in wood architecture has occurred with the development of new wood building systems and design strategies, elevating wood from a predominantly single-family residential idiom to a rival of concrete and steel construction for a variety of building types, including high rises. This new solid wood architecture offers unparalleled environmental as well as construction and aesthetic benefits, and is of growing importance for professionals and academics involved in green design.  

Solid Wood provides the first detailed book which allows readers to understand new mass timber/massive wood architecture. It provides:

  • historical context in wood architecture from around the world
  • a strong environmental rationale for the use of wood in buildings
  • recent developments in contemporary fire safety and structural issues
  • insights into building code challenges
  • detailed case studies of new large-scale wood building systems on a country-by-country basis.

Case studies from the UK, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italy, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia highlight design strategies, construction details and unique cultural attitudes in wood design. The case studies include the most ambitious academic, hospitality, industrial, multi-family, and wood office buildings in the world.          

With discussions from leading architectural, engineering, and material manufacturing firms in Europe, North America and the South Pacific, Solid Wood disrupts preconceived notions and serves as an indispensable guide to twenty-first century wood architecture and its environmental and cultural benefits.

part I|42 pages

Building with wood

part II|296 pages

Case studies in solid wood architecture

chapter 5|56 pages

England and the new concrete

chapter 6|36 pages

Norway and Norwegian wood

chapter 7|14 pages

Sweden and Nordic cities of wood

chapter 8|38 pages

Germany and the Woodcube

chapter 9|38 pages

Austria and advanced timber building

chapter 10|16 pages

Switzerland and Zurich's Mühlebach

chapter 11|48 pages

North America and traditions replanted

chapter 12|42 pages

New Zealand, Australia and timber down under