CIVL 3121 - Interesting Information about
Structures
Japan Plans for Supertall Wooden
Skyscraper in Tokyo by 2041
Timber tower construction is the current obsession of architects, with new
projects claiming to be the world’s next tallest popping up all over the globe.
But this latest proposal from Japanese company Sumitomo Forestry Co. and
architects Nikken Sekkei would blow everything else out of the water, as they
have announced plans for the world’s first supertall wood structured skyscraper
in Tokyo.
At 1,148 feet tall, the proposal outpaces similar timber-structured highrise
proposals including Perkins + Will’s River Beech Tower and PLP Architecture’s
Oakwood Tower.
Known as the W350 Project, the development
would feature a mixed-use program in hopes of
creating an environmentally and socially
sustainable community in the sky. Renderings for
the complex show light-filled apartments and
public spaces on multiple building levels, with
hotels, offices, retail and residences
intermixing.
Early estimates indicated that W350 would use
more than 6.5 million cubic feet of wood and
would cost upwards of 600 billion yen ($5.6
billion USD). The building would not be a pure
wood timber building, but rather a hybrid system
constructed with a 9:1 ratio of wood to steel
capable of handling Tokyo’s high seismic
activity.
