Japan set to construct world’s tallest wooden skyscrapers

NewsBharati    20-Feb-2018
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Tokyo, February 20: Would you believe in “wood’’? But Japan is ready to build the world's tallest wooden skyscraper. Sumitomo Forestry Co, a wood product Japanese company, has revealed the plan to build a 1,148ft (350 metre), 70-floor tower to mark its 350th anniversary in 2041. Currently, a 53m (174ft) student residence in Vancouver is reportedly the tallest timber skyscraper in the world.

“The aim is to create an environmentally-friendly and timber-utilizing cities where they become forests through increased use of wooden architecture for high-rise buildings. This concept plan has been prepared primarily at Tsukuba Research Institute, Sumitomo Forestry’s research and development facility,” Company said in a statement.

The company is referring to the project as W350 Project, will be ten percent steel, combined with 180,000 cubic meters of indigenous wood. As Japan is prone to earthquakes, the constructors will also focus to keep it safe from earthquakes. It will use a braced tube structure* in which steel frame vibration control braces are positioned inside a column and beam structure, made from a combination of wood and steel so that it will be able to withstand the regular earthquakes.

In 2010, the Act for Promotion of Use of Wood in Public Buildings was enacted in Japan, thereby promoting the shift to wooden structures for public buildings, which had previously been restricted to non-wooden structures. The Japanese government is taking the initiative in incorporating the use of timber with the aim of promoting autonomous initiatives by local public bodies and private operators that are in accordance with the country’s policy.