Norwegian modular project set to be world's tallest timber-frame apartment building [slideshow]

A 14-story luxury apartment block in central Bergen, Norway, will be the world's tallest timber-framed multifamily project, at 49 meters (160 feet). The current record-holder, Melbourne's Forté building, is 32 meters tall.

The Norwegian facility, called Treet or "The Tree," is being created by the Bergen and Omegn Building Society (BOB) and already has half of its 62 apartments sold. The structural system will consist of meter-thick glulam columns in a stacked modular design. When all modules are in place, the building will be covered with a glass-and-metal facade. Ole Kleppe, project manager for BOB, told Norwegian newspaper The Local that he expects the facility will have significant carbon-sequestering properties. The building's apartment modules have been designed to comply with the Passivhaus sustainability standard.

The Norway office of the Scandinavian structural engineering firm Sweco is collaborating with architect Artec. Moelven is working on the glulam and CLT structural elements, and Kodumaja will produce the building modules. In a detailed presentation at the 2014 International Wood Symposium at Vancouver, Sweco's Rune B. Abrahamsen said the project is based, in part, on prior feasibility studies for tall wood-framed structures in Kirkenes and Stavanger, Norway. He reports that the intial cost is somewhat higher than that of a steel and/or concrete structure, but the erection time is shorter. Abrahamsen also points to the longevity of the nation's iconic timber structures, such as the Hopperstad Stave Church.

Completion is expected in fall 2015.

Glass is heat-treated for two reasons: the first is to increase its strength to resist external stresses such as wind and snow loads, or thermal loads caused by the sun’s energy. The second is to temper glass so that it meets safety glazing requirements defined by applicable codes or federal standards.

| Feb 27, 2014

Metal Construction Association introduces two Environmental Product Declarations

Two Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), one for Metal Composite Material Panels and one for Roll Formed Steel Panels for Roofs and Walls, are now available free of charge from the Metal Construction Association (MCA) on its website.

| Feb 27, 2014

Bluebeam Software launches Revu 12 for better field-ready document management and project collaboration

The latest version of the company’s flagship solution better enables users in document-intensive industries to digitally collaborate on project documents and more easily connect the office to the field.

PocketCake's VRSCA (for Virtual Reality Simulation Converter Assembly) is three

| Feb 27, 2014

PocketCake lunches CPU designed for virtual reality simulations

The company's Virtual Reality Simulation Converter Assembly is three times more powerful than the average high-performance computer and allows for up to eight people to experience a virtual reality simulation at the same time.

Photos courtesy Blackney Hayes Architects

| Feb 26, 2014

Adaptive reuse project brings school into historic paper mill

The project features nontraditional classrooms for collaborative learning, an arts and music wing, and a technologically sophisticated global resource center.

| Feb 26, 2014

Use this app to streamline safety inspections

Using the iAuditor app, one of our Skanska teams developed electronic reports that make safety inspections more efficient, and that make it easier to address any issues emerging from them.