The W350 Project is a proposed wooden
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...
in central
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
,
Japan, announced in 2018. The skyscraper is set to reach a height of 350 meters with 70 floors, which upon its completion will make it the
tallest wooden skyscraper, as well as Japan's highest, over all, skyscraper. The skyscraper is set to be a mixed-used building including residential, office and retail space.
Description
It is supposed to be made of 90%
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of ligni ...
and the rest being
steel, steel braces will be used to enhance resistance to
wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...
and
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
s due to the area's high
seismic activity
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
. Wood was chosen since timber-based structures have proven to be very resistant to earthquakes. The project requires 185,000 cubic meters of timber (or 6.5 million cubic feet
), and plans to revitalize forestry and timber demand in Japan.
The choice of wood, aside from its aesthetics, is part of a larger movement aiming to "change cities into forests".
Wooden structures are also easier to rebuild or replace than concrete structures if it collapses.
Two-thirds of Japan is covered by forest, making it the 2nd most tree-covered country of the OECD countries after Finland. Most of Japan's cedars and cypresses were planted after the Second World War and are now reaching maturity.
[Nguyen Trung]
World's tallest wooden skyscraper planned in Tokyo
''Redtoolead.com'', 21 July 2019
The skyscraper is designed by the
architectural firm
In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countr ...
Nikken Sekkei
Nikken Sekkei (日建設計) is an architectural, planning and engineering firm from Japan, with headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo. Today (2019), Nikken Sekkei ranks as the second largest architectural practice in the world.
Staff and Offices
As o ...
, and build by the developer
Sumitomo Forestry
Sumitomo Forestry ( ja, 住友林業株式会社) is a Japanese logging and processing company. The company is also engaged in the construction of houses made of wooden materials. Included in the Sumitomo Group keiretsu.
At present, the company co ...
.
Its construction is estimated to cost
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
5.6
billion
Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions:
*1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English.
* 1,000,000,000,000, ...
.
See also
*
List of tallest wooden buildings
*
Brock Commons Tallwood House
Brock Commons Tallwood House is an 18-storey student residence at the Point Grey Campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. At the time it was opened, it was the tallest mass timber structure in the world.
It is the first ...
*
List of tallest buildings in the world
This list of tallest buildings includes skyscrapers with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least . Nonbuilding structure, Non-building structures, such as towers, are not included in this list (for these, see ''List of tallest ...
*
Plyscraper
A plyscraper, or timber tower is a skyscraper made (at least partly) of wood. They may alternatively be known as mass timber buildings.
Materials
There are four main types of engineered wood used for mass timber including cross-laminated timber ...
References
External links
*{{cite web , title=W350 Tower , url=https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/w350-tower/32377 , website=skyscrapercenter , publisher=2020 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat , accessdate=6 May 2020
Changing Cities into Forests: Creating Environmentally-Friendly and Timber-Utilizing Cities - New Development Concept W350 Plan for Wooden High-Rise Building ''Sfc.com''
Skyscrapers in Tokyo
Wooden architecture
Plyscraper
Proposed skyscrapers in Japan