Plans for the World’s Tallest Wooden Building

By John Farrier in Architecture on Aug 24, 2009 at 7:42 pm


Illustration: Reilulf Ramstad Architects

Norway plans to construct a wooden building 16-17 stories tall with carbon neutral construction techniques. The Norwegian Barents Secretariat will use it for a cultural center for the nation’s northern coast. It will house a library, a theatre, and art studios in its approximately 10,000 square meter interior space and will highlight sustainable development:

The idea is to construct a building which will be CO2-neutral, where the concept of the cycles of nature will be preserved. The innovative solutions on modern wooden constructions will stand as a token of the level of competence in the region, says architect Reiulf Ramstad.

As far as I have been able to determine, the record for tallest wooden building in the world is currently held by the 43-meter tall St. George’s Cathedral in Guyana.

Link via Gizmodo


Email This Post
Tweet This Post 
Share This Post on Facebook

Tags: , , ,

Neat stuff from the NeatoShop:

  1. abdulhamid
    Aug 24th, 2009 at 8:01 pm

    This is beacon for terrorists. It will light up like a divine match; a votive candle for Allah. Good job Al Gore. This is the “Three Little Pigs” waiting to happen.

  2. Kalel
    Aug 24th, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    Maybe this will kindle interest in wooden buildings.

  3. abdulhamid
    Aug 24th, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    Kindle indeed!

  4. grant kinsley
    Aug 24th, 2009 at 8:52 pm

    the church in church point, nova scotia, canada is the tallest wooden church in north america at 56 metres or 185 feet, it use to be 215 feet, but lightning damaged the building and the steeple was rebuilt 30 feet shorter. But I haven’t located a taller building yet. The inner walls are lined in painted sail canvas as the steeple sways in the high local winds and lathe and plaster walls would crack.

    from Wikipedia

    Église Sainte-Marie is a Catholic church located in Church Point, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the largest and tallest wooden building in North America. Built in the form of a cross, the church nave measures 58 metres (190 feet) in length, with transepts that are 41 metres (135 feet) across. The church spire rises 56 metres (185 feet) from floor to steeple, with its cross adding another 1.67 meters (5.6 feet). Originally 30 feet taller, the church steeple was struck by lightning in 1914, requiring part of the spire to be rebuilt.

  5. grant kinsley
    Aug 24th, 2009 at 9:03 pm

    more research

    from what I can tell the tallest wooden building in the world currently is the Toji Temple in Kyoto Japan at 57 metres.

  6. jimg
    Aug 24th, 2009 at 10:47 pm

    Sorry, the wooden Tustin Blimp hangars (two of them) in Tustin (Orange County) California, were built in 1942 and are 332 meters/1088ft long, 62 meters/203ft tall, with a ceiling height, unsupported, of 54 meters/178ft. They are 90 meters/297ft wide as well. They are an astounding sight, even with the surrounding development. They were even more awe inspiring back before subdivisions, when they were all by themselves in acres of flat ground. They are still the worlds largest clear span wooden buildings.

  8. columbusfinder
    Aug 24th, 2009 at 11:04 pm

    I admire people like you who take the time to do all this research and then to share the results with others. Due to time constraints I will have to come back and read all the articles you have linked to.

    Thanks for the share.

  9. MrJawbones
    Aug 24th, 2009 at 11:30 pm

    No smoking!

  10. D. Hendrickson
    Aug 24th, 2009 at 11:54 pm

    US Navy made WW 2 blimp hangers are bigger. There are several left standing in the US. The one in Tillamook, Oregon is 58.52 meters high that is 192 feet for Americans. The building is 1072 feet long and there are at least a couple of even bigger WW 2 blimp hangers in California. Look up blimp hangers on the web and see some great pictures.

  11. tomtom
    Aug 25th, 2009 at 3:51 am

    Carbon neutral? I can go one better: bung a pot-plant inside and make it carbon negative.

  12. Tim Giachetti
    Aug 25th, 2009 at 5:06 am

    “Hey buddy, got a light?”

  13. dutchboy
    Aug 25th, 2009 at 10:38 am

    Woods awesome.

  14. Skinnyman
    Aug 25th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

    If a radio tower can be considered a building, then the tallest one is in Gliwice, Poland, 111 meters high.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliwice_Radio_Tower

  15. pastor nahum
    Nov 11th, 2009 at 5:01 am

    Prayer Fellowship of Pakistan
    Evangelical awareness by Scioco-educational Ministry
    Mathew 24: 31 & 46 And He will send His angels with great sound
    Glory to the Lord
    In Jesus Christ dear Brothers and Sisters
    Since 1980 in Bahar colony Lahore and the soundings areas of
    Lahore Rev. Pervaiz Khawar (Late) and their team started serving the people of God by their evangelical service for the awareness and betterment of the Christian community .They worked day and night for more then twenty years when the said colony was newly populated and thank God for their service that in Lord many souls were saved and a lot families improved their spiritual and economical levels.
    Five year ago, Rev.P.Khawar slept in God, and because of his son and second to his ministry most of the responsibilities have now been shouldered on me. I thank Lord that most of the senior, experienced and reliable persons are still working with the ministry. But this set back caused heavy losses that we lost our worship and office places and some equipments. In such disappointing situation we didn’t lose heart and resumed with full zeal and confident hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. We carried on worship services in streets, in villages, in under constructed buildings, school grounds, and tents.
    Though we do not have proper transportations
    It was very hard and harsh to work within such condition for the betterment of our community in such a rigid Islamic country because of certain reasons, that environment is totally opposite and, second that here Christian community is very poor , deprived and oppressed and poverty caused illiteracy and illiteracy is the main root cause of unemployment.

    Luke 6:38 give and it will be given to you …………
    Prayer Fellowship of Pakistan is a ministry working for the above such cause so we request to all our brother and sisters in our Lord to pray and support the ministry that could work more and more betterment of the people of God and for the Glory of Our Lord God
    Ref for study:- Jacob 2:14-17, Luke 11: 5-13, 2-Cornthanins 9:7
    With regards.its my website http://www.pfministry.org……………i am welcome you from pakistan
    I want make a church in Pakistan,So Pray and Finishly help me in Church Counteraction
    Your Brother in Christ
    Pastor Nahum Khawar
    From Paksitan
    P.O Box 5122 Model Town Lahore,Pakistan

  16. JohnMc
    Jul 20th, 2010 at 3:06 pm

    Sorry, but are buildings tallest then St. George’s Cathedral…. some wooden church of Romania, have more then 70 metres


Keep track of the comments with Comment RSS

Don't Miss: New Stuff | Bestsellers | The Cute Store
                   Funny T-Shirts | Zombie Shop

Need a gift? Get unforgettable gifts for:
Geeks | Pranksters | Kids | Hipsters | Shutterbugs
Lijit Search
Old school? Bookmark us! RSS Feed Twitter Facebook Page