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New York

Eighty-story wooden skyscraper could rise in London

The tower will look like a vertical greenspace

A rendering of the wooden skyscraper in London. Credit: PLP Architecture
A rendering of the wooden skyscraper in London. Credit: PLP Architecture

London Mayor Boris Johnson just received a proposal to solve London’s eco-crisis: an 80-story eco-friendly skyscraper made of wood.

The project would house hundreds of units of low-cost housing while becoming the second-tallest building in London behind the Shard, according to Curbed.

The tower is a joint project between Cambridge University’s Centre for Natural Material Innovation and PLP Architecture and it would tower over the current tallest timber building — the 14-story Treet building in Bergen, Norway.

The wooden giant would rise in a courtyard of the Barbican estate and would be the centerpiece of a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development.

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The tower would feature a series of rooftop gardens, giving the appearance of vertical greenspace.

Oakwood_Tower_Barbican_View

“If London is going to survive, it needs to densify,” Dr. Michael Ramage, Director of Cambridge’s Centre for Natural Material Innovation said in a press release. “One way is taller buildings. We believe people have a greater affinity for taller buildings in natural materials rather than steel and concrete towers. The fundamental premise is that timber and other natural materials are vastly underused and we do not give them nearly enough credit. Nearly every historic building, from King’s College Chapel to Westminster Hall, has made extensive use of timber.”

New York will get its first wooden tower at 475 West 18th Street in Chelsea. [Curbed] –Christopher Cameron