LifeCycle Tower

Research Project Timber Multistory

Multi-storey buildings are still rarely built in timber worldwide. Building regulations and fire protection requirements prevent larger heights from four to six storeys, depending on the country. The historical reaction of mankind to the combustible building material has not yet been eliminated. Reservations are also had regarding the durability and safety of timber. The world’s tallest timber building to date, an eight-story timber construction housed on a concrete ground level was recently completed in London – facilitated by specific building laws in England.

The aim of the present research project “LifeCycle Tower” is the development of a construction-ready modular timber system for the construction of buildings up to 20 storeys high. Two key advantages of timber are:

a) Buildings made with the renewable raw material timber are very energy efficient in their production (little grey energy) and carbon is stored in the buildings and temporarily does not reach the atmosphere.

b) Timber construction offers the possibility of a maximum degree of prefabrication, associated with an extremely short construction time, with a high quality finish.

The basics for the project development were determined. The system should have the highest possible amount of timber, which should also be experienced.  The meaningfulness was scrutinised in every phase, so not just “timber at any price”. The individual construction parts had to be developed in such a way that the highest possible degree of prefabrication was ensured and therefore a new type of high-rise construction was made possible.