What is Tall Wood Architecture?

John Spacey, updated on July 15, 2016

A tall wood building is a modern highrise building that is primarily constructed with wood. In some cases, steel is used to extend the building's strength to handle forces such as wind and earthquakes.

Wood is valued for its aesthetic qualities, particularly in a world that is full of concrete infrastructure and buildings. In a large structure, wood is something of a novelty as skyscrapers have been associated with concrete and steel ever since they first emerged in the 1880s.

Wood & Fire

Large wooden structures are traditionally considered fire hazards. For example, Japan has a history of devastating fires because its architecture was historically all wood. The country still has more than 100,000 wooden temples and shrines. It is remarkably common for such historical sites to have experienced fires. In fact, it is common for a temple to have burned down and been rebuilt multiple times over its history.

Modern structures can potentially overcome such issues with fireproofing techniques, treatments and materials.

Wood & Sustainability

It is often argued that responsibly sourced wooden structures are sustainable because wood is a natural renewable resource. This can only be evaluated on a project-by-project basis considering all the materials incorporated into a structure and other considerations such as resource efficiency.

Wood sequesters carbon and wood buildings can often be deconstructed.

Overview: Tall Wood
Type	Architecture
Definition	Large buildings and structures that are mostly made of wood.
Value	Wood is unique in a world of concrete and glass. May integrate well with natural surroundings. Wood sequesters carbon.
Related Concepts	Truth To Materials Deconstruction Organic Architecture