ABSTRACT
The act of putting bits of timber and stone together and covering them with mud and leaves was naturally the start of the art of construction and the moment when architecture was born. Wood has always been an important material in the building industry. Glued laminated wood and cross-laminated timber are engineered softwoods, typically spruce or pine from sustainable forests in temperate zones in the northern hemisphere. Timber is universally recognised as one of the most sustainable building materials, yet steel and concrete are the dominant structural materials. Wood, weight for weight, has similar strength to steel, and similar compressive strength to concrete. Timber also outperforms concrete in terms of its light weight, as it requires less energy for its transportation and the material is easier to handle on site. The Timber Tower projects develop architectural responses to the structural possibilities and the aesthetic and experiential qualities of wood, raising the bar to include tall buildings for sustainable future cities.
