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World’s tallest hybrid-timber tower approved in Australia

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 16:55:32 GMT

The world’s tallest hybrid-timber building recently received development approval

Plans to build the world’s tallest hybrid-timber building recently received development approval, paving the way for the carbon-neutral tower, named C6, to move ahead in South Perth, Australia.

Designed by Melbourne-based Fraser & Partners , the 183 m tall structure’s use of timber will leave it carbon neutral at completion, while on-site solar power and zero-carbon commitments with off-site power plants will continue its sustainability goals afterward.

“To address the impacts of climate change, our imperative as architects is clear: How can we design the buildings needed for urban growth while balancing the environmental costs of their construction?” asks Reade Dixon, F&P director, in press material.

A timber-clad steel diagrid will surround a concrete core in C6, while glulam beams will support cross-laminated timber floors, according to project lead Lucas Menegazzo. The beams will also tie the building’s concrete columns back to the core.

Engineering firm NDY Structures will be responsible for the tower’s superstructure, while Vistek Engineers will handle the timber and connections, and Tmbr Consult will handle procurement. The diagrid’s overcladding will provide a layer of fire protection, says Menegazzo. “Timber is inherently safer in fire conditions compared to steel, and the building has been designed alongside Australia’s preeminent timber fire engineering expert James O’Neill,” he continues. For further protection, “the mass-timber beams have been oversized to allow a char layer to ensure structural integrity in the instance of a fire, and the CLT floors have been protected by two layers of fire-protective plasterboard.”

Research conducted by the Forest Products Laboratory showed that, during a fire, exposed mass timber develops an outer char layer that insulates and protects inner, unburned wood. Empirically obtained char rates from the study can be used to calculate the amount of outer, sacrificial char layer needed for exposed wood to obtain a three-hour fire resistance rating.

New Paragraph

20-Storey Tall Timber, Wooden Skyscraper, Completed

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 19:31:50 GMT

The miraculous eco-town with a 20-storey wooden skyscraper

The technology behind it is surprisingly simple. The two main materials are glued laminated timber (glulam) and cross-laminated timber (CLT). The former is made from layers of lumber bonded togethe r, with the grain running in the same direction, giving it a higher load-bearing capacity than both steel and concrete, relative to its weight. It is ideal for columns and beams, and forms the structural bones of the cultural Centre, which is home to two theatres, a museum, an art gallery and a library.

CLT, meanwhile, is like super-sized plywood, with each layer stuck at right-angles to the next. This makes it strong in all directions, so it is perfect for walls and floor slabs. The lift cores at either end of the 20-storey tower are made from CLT, with prefabricated hotel room pods stacked between them, incorporating glulam columns in their corners for strength. Finally, the double-skin glass façade keeps the rooms insulated in winter and cool in summer, as the warmed air rises between the panes of glass.

The “self-finish” nature of structural mass timber, which can simply be left exposed, means that the tower was incredibly quick to build, doing away with the usual wet trades of plastering and decorating. A whole year was saved by using wood, compared with steel and concrete, with a storey completed every two days. The number of truck deliveries was also reduced by about 90%, with practically zero waste on site. Like bits of a giant balsa-wood model, the pieces came from factories ready to be bolted together, some in panels 27 metres long, while the trees were harvested from within a 60km radius of the site – and have all since been replenished. Just like the region’s forest-foraged restaurant menus, this is meaningful local sourcing rather than a green veneer.

White Arkitekter carried out a 50-year lifecycle analysis that claims that Sara Kulturhus Centre will have a lifespan of at least 100 years.

"In terms of lifecycle assessments, new trees have to be planted to replace the ones harvested for the cultural centre in order to be able to count as carbon sequestration," he continued. "New trees will grow during the building's lifespan. That is why we refer to the 50-year lifespan in our calculations."

And to reduce the carbon emissions from the project's construction, locally sourced timber was harvested and then manufactured at a nearby sawmill. A geothermal heat pump and a large array of solar panels, in addition to sourcing energy from other renewable sources, are used to reduce the carbon emissions as the building operates.

For more on this story, go to Dezeen .

Nashville, Mixed-Use Towers Design Revealed

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 19:31:48 GMT

Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences Nashville, Mixed-Use Towers Design Revealed

SOM and M2 Development Partners have unveiled renderings for a mixed-use project in the heart of Nashville’s SoBro where is the most vibrant cultural districts. The project will consist of two towers on a shared podium. The larger tower is planned to be 46-stories tall which will contain a 242-key Ritz-Carlton Hotel and 165 luxury residences.

The development will anchor burgeoning retail and hospitality development along Korean Veterans Boulevard. The 46-story tower includes a 242-key Ritz-Carlton Hotel and 165 luxury Residences. Atop the Grand Ballroom and meeting spaces are hotel fitness facilities, a yoga patio, an indoor/outdoor spa garden, and a hotel bar and pool deck. The second 32-story tower will be home to 185 rental units with a fitness center, pool, and outdoor dining.

The design is informed as much by biophilic principles—providing opportunities to connect with nature—as by local building traditions. “Taking inspiration from the surrounding landscape and the architectural vernacular of the Southern porch, we designed the towers with a series of outdoor, wraparound terraces,” says Scott Duncan, SOM Design Partner. “These lively spaces allow guests and residents to meet and enjoy views of the city and the river.”

The project is targeting LEED Gold certification and is anticipating groundbreaking in early 2022.

For more on this story, go to SOM .

Proposed 16-storey hybrid mass timber office and retail building designed by KPF.

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 18:41:04 GMT

KPF-Designed Hybrid Mass Timber Office Building in Vancouver

The Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc., operator and joint owner of Bentall Centre in partnership with Blackstone Real Estate, unveiled Burrard Exchange, a proposed 16-storey hybrid mass timber office and retail building designed by KPF. Under the proposed plans, which were recently submitted to the city of Vancouver, approximately 450,000 square feet of office and retail space would be added within the Bentall Centre campus on one of the last large development sites in Vancouver’s urban core.

Burrard Exchange is a modern, loft-like structure with healthy, light-filled workspaces. KPF’s innovative design utilizes mass timber, typically reserved for low-rise structures, to create a state-of-the-art green office tower, reducing the building’s embodied carbon. The mass timber is also a key design feature, intended to be unencapsulated and visible, highlighting and celebrating the project’s sustainable aspirations.

At approximately 30,000 square feet, the building’s floor plates are nearly twice as large as those offered in typical office buildings in Vancouver, while 14.5-foot floor-to-floor heights allow plentiful natural light inside. The building’s stepped exterior massing provides half of the building’s 16 floors with outdoor terraces and loggias, enhancing connections to nature from within the building.

Replacing the site’s existing parkade, the development offers new street frontages, amenities, and retail space to service the entire Bentall Centre and its environs. An at-grade pavilion, also of mass timber, is a primary feature of a new, regraded 20,000-square-foot plaza, one of the largest outdoor gathering places downtown. Burrard Exchange’s lobby connects to the below-grade Shops at Bentall Centre, with retail and services for tenants and the public.

Burrard Exchange is part of a major repositioning of the 1.5 million-square-foot Bentall Centre campus, including re-activating public spaces, adding arts and culture offerings, and enhancing tenant amenities.

For the full press release, please click here

Tall Mass Timber Construction Types Included in 2021 IBC

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 23:09:48 GMT

Historic Action by ICC Follows Ad Hoc Committee Recommendations

The Governmental Members of the International Code Council (ICC) approved a package of 14 proposals to recognize these new types of construction and related provisions. ICC’s rigorous code development process has led to the recognition of a strong, low-carbon alternative to traditional materials in the building and construction industry. These changes expand the use of mass timber for larger and taller wood buildings up to 18 stories – a move welcomed by architects, engineers, and building developers.

The 2021 International Building Code (IBC) will introduce three new types of construction for fire-resistance-rated mass timber structures, the first significant addition to the types of construction in many years. Although still considered combustible construction, the structural frames of these buildings are designed for integrity in the unlikely event of fire exposure.

The new construction types are designated as:

Type IV-A – Maximum 18 stories, with non-combustible protection such as gypsum wallboard on all mass timber elements and providing 2- and 3-hour fire resistance.
Type IV-B – Maximum 12 stories, limited exposed mass timber is permitted and providing 2-hour fire resistance.
Type IV-C – Maximum 9 stories, mass timber designed for 2-hour fire resistance.

The approval concludes several years of scientific research and testing, verifying that mass timber meets the performance standards called for by the most widely adopted U.S. building code.

New York City Skyscraper, On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Receives Permits

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 18:30:29 GMT

“The unanimous decision is an unequivocal affirmation that 200 Amsterdam’s permit was lawfully issued under the Zoning Resolution,” said Steven J. Pozycki, chairman and CEO of SJP Properties.

The New York State’s Appellate Division, First Department, unanimously ruled in favor of 200 Amsterdam Avenue‘s developers, SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America, and the construction of the Upper West Side’s current tallest skyscraper. The First Department ruling affirmed the building permits for the Elkus Manfredi Architects-designed structure, which stands 668 feet tall. It also serves as a win for the City of New York, while overturning the lower court’s February 2020 trial court ruling, which had sought to retroactively apply a draft zoning interpretation calling for a reduction in height for the 52-story tower.

200 Amsterdam Avenue has been under construction since 2017 with the use of a valid DOB permit and progressed largely uninterrupted throughout the course of its timeline. The reinforced concrete edifice rises on a lot by the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 70th Street, and consists of full and partial tax lots. The DOB and Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) based permit approvals were twice upheld, on a 40-plus-year precedent that has allowed construction of numerous other buildings across New York City.

The result of this ruling decrees that New Yorkers can rely on legally sound permits without fear of new retroactively enforced interpretations. The Association for a Better New York, the New York Building Congress, and the Real Estate Board of New York filed amicus briefs ahead of the November 2020 oral argument in support of the developers and the City of New York to both reverse the lower court’s ruling and to preserve and improve the economic vitality and integrity of New York’s economy.

SOM reveals 83-story tower to replace Trump’s Grand Central Hyatt in Midtown Manhattan

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 18:30:27 GMT

Pedestrian view of 175 Park Avenue along Lexington Avenue including public terraces and a new subway entrance. (Courtesy SOM)

Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) has shared new renderings of the colossal tower that will replace the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Encompassing 2.2 million square feet of mixed-use space including a new 500-room Hyatt property, the 83-story skyscraper located adjacent to—and above—Grand Central Terminal will reach 1,646 feet into the sky and, when completed, rank as one of the tallest buildings—if not the tallest building—in the city. RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone are the project developers with Beyer Blinder Belle and James Corner Field Operations joining SOM on the design end as architectural and historical consultant and landscape architect, respectively.

The Commercial Observer was the first to share the latest details on the multi-billion-dollar 175 Park Avenue development that, per a project fact sheet shared by SOM, will breathe new life into “one of the most complex and underutilized sites in New York City” that has “brimmed for decades with untapped potential.”

In total, the tower at 175 Park will include 2.1 million square feet of Class A commercial office space, the aforementioned 453,000-square-foot Hyatt-operated hotel on the upper floors of the building, and 10,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor and cellar levels. Considering its proximity to one of New York City’s busiest transportation hubs, the project also includes extensive, ADA accessibility- and circulation-improving transit upgrades impacting both Grand Central Terminal and the Grand Central-42nd Street subway station including a new transit hall and 42nd Street entrance as well as a so-called “short loop” that will link the lower-level Metro-North Railroad platforms and Long Island Railroad’s East Side Access Terminal to the subway mezzanine via a new 12,000-square-foot passageway. (In addition to the tower itself, SOM is overseeing all on-site transit improvements.) Various upgrades will also be carried out along Lexington Avenue and its namesake subway entrance while a trio of elevated terraces will bring 24,000 square feet of new, multifaceted public space to the immediate area.