Sustainable solutions
The renaissance of timber
MARJA BERISA, Photos: Ema Peter & MGA
Canadian architect Michael Green is a renowned advocate of timber as a building material. He believes engineered wood has a key role to play in combatting climate change all over the world.
Building 100-storey skyscrapers out of timber is not an issue of technology, know-how or even money, Michael Green states. “This does not mean we must have tall timber buildings, but we can and could. When people absorb the fact that a 100-storey skyscraper made of wood is a possibility, the notion of building ten or twenty storeys does not sound so daunting.” Back to nature and timber building If there is one positive thing about climate change, it is that it is bringing people closer to nature, Green says. Living organisms produced by solar energy and photosynthesis – plants, timber, hemp and bamboo – can provide not just food, but also materials for constructing homes and other buildings. “Humankind has all the skills and energy to feed and house the growing population. It is just a matter of putting those skills into action.” Some two hundred years ago, wood was the main mate- rial for building. During the industrial revolution, concrete
and steel started to replace it. They were viewed as sturdier and more fire-proof than timber. “Now of course we have ways to treat timber and make it flame-retardant. And anyone who has ever struggled to start an open fire at a camp knows that timber does not really catch fire – it is kindling that does.” Green emphasises that when we talk about timber as a building material, we are not talking about two-by-fours. “Engineered wood is the key, meaning cross-laminated timber and glulam. Timber is a very flexible material, and we can glue together almost any structures that we wish.” Timber from the ground up A 100-storey wooden structure, mentioned at the start, would have concrete foundations below the ground, while the superstructure would be primarily wood, including hollow vertical wood columns. Inside these columns would be steel cables, tied to the concrete base to provide adequate tension and stability. One of the most famous buildings designed by Michael Green Architecture is the T3 in Minneapolis, a structure
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