Currently, the tallest wooden building on the planet is located in the United States, but otherwise European countries clearly dominate in this respect. Where exactly are the record-breaking woodworkers located and how many floors do they reach? While Czech legislation limits the maximum height of a wooden building to 12 metres, the tallest wooden buildings in the world are already commonly reaching heights of more than ten metres. And since many countries and developers are competing on height, here is a list of the seven tallest wooden buildings on the planet.
1. ASCENT, USA / 87 meters
Currently the tallest wooden building in the world is a luxury residential tower that was completed last year in Wisconsin. The American studio Korb + Associates Architects is behind the design, which chose concrete for the foundations, elevator and stair shafts, while the rest of the structure is made of CLT panels and glulam. Interestingly, thanks to prefabrication, the 25-storey structure was built in just 2 years from the start of foundation excavation.
2. Mjøstårnet, Norway / 85 meters
Just two metres shorter, the wooden building has been standing since 2019 in the Norwegian town of Brumunddal, a town of 10,000 people with a well-developed timber industry. The design was developed by Norwegian architectural studio Voll Arkitekter, the supporting structure is made of glulam columns, and even the elevator shafts are made of wood – specifically CLT panels. On 18 floors we can find apartments, offices, a hotel and an indoor swimming pool.
3. HoHo Wien, Austria / 84 meters
The Austrian capital is home to Europe’s second tallest wooden building, which was completed in 2020 by the Austrian architectural studio RLP Rüdiger Lainer + Partner. The 24-storey mixed-use building is located in the new urban district of Seestadt Aspern and is made of 75% wood.
4. Haut, Netherlands / 73 meters
The Netherlands also has experience with wooden skyscrapers, where a residential building with 21 floors was built last year. The construction of CLT panels reaches a height of over 70 metres, and a terrace was created on the roof. The building makes extensive use of solar panels on the roof and facades and is the first residential project in the Netherlands to be BREEAM Outstanding certified. The project was developed by Team V Architecture, Lingotto, Arup, and J.P. van Eesteren.
5. Sara Kulturhus, Sweden / 73 meters
Just a few decimetres lower is a well-known Swedish structure that was a huge media success when it was completed in 2021. White Arkitekter ‘s design for a small town in the north of the country combines cultural spaces (theatre, library, gallery, museum) with a hotel in a tower. Again, all structural parts of the 20-storey building were made of wood, primarily CLT panels
6. De Karel Doorman, Netherlands, 70 meters
Shopping centre from the 40. years in the centre of Rotterdam was a write-off. However, it was ultimately saved from demolition by a project by Ibelings van Tilburg Architecten, which proposed to “sit” a new building directly on top of the existing structure – a residential wooden building with more than 100 apartments, using a hybrid structure of wood and steel on top of existing concrete pillars and foundations. The implementation was completed in 2012.
7. Southbank Boulevard, Australia / 70 metres
Timber buildings are also thriving in Australia. The tallest wooden building there is a hotel in Melbourne, which was built in a similar way to a previous project in Rotterdam. Studio Bates Smart decided to add 10 more floors of CLT panels to the existing concrete structure – if the superstructure was made of concrete, it could only have 6 floors due to the higher weight of the material.
However, the ranking of the tallest wooden buildings is constantly changing with newly completed buildings. At present, we know of several projects that are thinking of setting a new record. A 90-metre tower from a workshop is planned in Canada Icon Architecture. DLast year, Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects published a design for a 100-metre residential building in Switzerland. In Vienna, construction of the 32-storey Timber Maria Tower project by UBM Development AG is due to start in 2025.
