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.
Related Stories
| Aug 5, 2013
Top Retail Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Callison, Stantec, Gensler top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest retail architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the United States.
| Aug 5, 2013
Top Retail Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, AECOM, Henderson Engineers top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest retail engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the United States.
| Aug 5, 2013
Retail market shows signs of life [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Retail rentals and occupancy are finally on the rise after a long stretch in the doldrums.
| Aug 5, 2013
Top Retail Construction Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Shawmut, Whiting-Turner, PCL top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest retail contractor and construction management firms in the United States.
| Aug 2, 2013
Michael Baker Corp. agrees to be acquired by Integrated Mission Solutions
Michael Baker Corporation (“Baker”) (NYSE MKT:BKR) announced today that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Integrated Mission Solutions, LLC (“IMS”), an affiliate of DC Capital Partners, LLC (“DC Capital”).
| Jul 31, 2013
Hotel, retail sectors bright spots of sluggish nonresidential construction market
A disappointing recovery of the U.S. economy is limiting need for new nonresidential building activity, said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker in the AIA's semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, released today. As a result, AIA reduced its projections for 2013 spending to 2.3%.
| Jul 30, 2013
Better planning and delivery sought for VA healthcare facilities
Making Veterans Administration healthcare projects “better planned, better delivered” is the new goal of the VA’s Office of Construction and Facilities Management.
| Jul 30, 2013
Healthcare designers get an earful about controlling medical costs
At the current pace, in 2020 the U.S. will spend $4.2 trillion a year on healthcare; unchecked, waste would hit $1.2 trillion. Yet “waste” is keeping a lot of poorly performing hospitals in business, said healthcare facility experts at the recent American College of Healthcare Architects/AIA Academy of Architecture for Health Summer Leadership Summit in Chicago.
| Jul 30, 2013
Top Healthcare Sector Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
HDR, HKS, Cannon top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest healthcare architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 26, 2013
HDR acquires Sharon Greene + Associates
HDR Engineering, Inc. has acquired the business and assets of Sharon Greene + Associates, a firm specializing in transportation economics and financial analysis with offices in California and Denver.
