See the Design for the Tallest Wood Building in the World

Canadian firm Michael Green Architecture has proposed a design for what, if built, would be the world’s tallest wood skyscraper. Submitted to Réinventer Paris, a competition seeking new environmentally friendly projects for the city, the design, named Baobab, features a 35-story wood tower as part of a complex comprising mixed-income housing, urban farms, a student hotel, an e-car hub, and stops for public transportation.

In 2012, Michael Green proposed another wood skyscraper for the city of Vancouver, simultaneously releasing an open-source manual for constructing such towers. The use of mass timber products, which are made of small wood fibers that are glued and pressed together to form strong panels and columns, is the key to MGA’s technique. For anyone worried about fire safety, these products perform as well as steel in a blaze: When exposed to flames, a thick beam’s exterior chars and forms a protective layer around the interior structural components.

MGA hopes to promote the building technique, which is hailed as safer and and better for the environment than the standard steel-and-concrete formula for skyscrapers.

For more information visit mg-architecturea. *