Neither steel nor concrete: This almost 200 -meter skyscraper will be the highest in the world built with wood

2024-09-16 -

The MGA study is developing the project of an immense mixed use building in the Milwaukee downtown built with wooden panels and beams.

Steel, glass and concrete are the main protagonists of the architecture of the twentieth century. The cities of Spain attest, although there is an old acquaintance who is gaining more and more attention in the construction sector. We talk about wood and the latest technology applied to this material, which is allowing buildings like this in record in record time: a plant a week. Between the architects that have best opted for this wooden revolution is Michael Green, responsible of the MGA study, which carries its entire career advocating this type of construction. His latest project, if nothing twists, will become the highest wooden building in the world, with 55 plants and about 200 meters high. The property, which still has no name, will rise in Milwaukee (Wisconsin , USA), the same city where the Ascent skyscraper is located, which until now held the curious record, with only 25 plants and 87 meters. The new building, located in the center of the city, will be one of the towers of a more ambitious project that is still in the municipal approval process, directed by the neutral promoter. His use will be mixed, with space for offices, hotels, Public housing housing and parking spaces, and will occupy the current parking Grow the population of our city until reaching the million inhabitants of Milwaukee, said Cavalier Johnson, councilor of the city. To achieve this we have to be aggressive and reach new dimensions. This project will help us to do that precisely, literally pointing to beating local and world records and, which is equally important, will add density and activity to an infrautilized plot controlled by the city In the center of Milwaukee. Rars of Maderamichael Green is not only a pioneer of this new way of understanding construction thanks to buildings such as T3, built entirely with panels, columns and wooden beams, but also for its disseminating work. He is the author, for example, of the influential book arguments in favor of high wooden buildings, in which he raises a not -so -distant future in which to make a wooden building where everything you need to build it is a gigantic Allen key . For its manufacture, pine or fir wood is usually used in superimposed layers together with industrial tail and pressed. The result is a highly industrialized product that shapes beams, pillars, and panels for forged, covered or walls, which can reach lengths of up to 18 meters, widths of 3 meters and variable thicknesses from approximately 25 mm, The authors of the Mass Madera report indicate, a network that brings together experts, companies, institutions and pioneer organizations in the use of solid wood in building in Spain. The most widespread perception is that wood cannot be used as high performance structural material , beyond being used for single -height or low -height housing. On the contrary, products such as CLT and advances in structural engineering with wood offer a resistance and stability similar to those of steel and concrete. The skyscrapers made with wood are already a reality, as demonstrated with extra sacrifiable layers that protect the structure section. Thus, this type of construction is considered so resistant or more against fires than conventional concrete buildings. The behavior of wood in the face of fire is predictable and allows for predictable and more exact evacuation times. A future investment The project represents an important investment of more than 700 million dollars (more than 630 million euros) and covers Several mixed buildings, MGA explains on their website. The project, scheduled in several phases, could include up to 750 homes, 17,600 m2 of offices, 3,700 m2 of commercial premises, 300 hotel rooms, parking spaces and animated places and public walks. [Wood structures that will revolutionize the CONSTRUCTION: Buildings of five floors in 10 days] In their design and development they will participate, in addition to the architects of MGA, other studies such as HGA, Gehl People, C.D. Smith and Thornton Tomasetti, which will shape the one who aspires to become the world reference of massive wood. Key details are unknown, such as height (although estimated between 180 and 200 meters). Nor is the possible inclusion of concrete in the foundations rule out, since everything indicates that it remains necessary to contribute stability to a building of such dimensions. What seems confirmed is the prominence of the hanging vegetation abroad, present in the few promotional renders that have been distributed to date. According to Michael Green in Dezeen, this project and other similar demonstrate the unique opportunities offered by the Small cities when betting on sustainable development and experimentation with new materials. Thus, they can become a model to follow for the great cities of the US and the rest of the world. Before the construction of this new skyscrapers begin, Milwaukee will already have a new example of this type of architecture, in whose design it has also also MGA collaborated. This is The Edison, a 32 plants building with a crossed and laminated rolled wooded wooden system glued on a post -tensioned concrete base that will begin to rise in the late 2024.