The future of real estate according to Google? Wooden skyscrapers!
Does the term Quayside mean anything to you? Yet in this word the future of the real estate world converges, according to Google. In fact, this word refers to a real smart city that is emerging on the Canadian waterfront. An experiment that bears the signature of the urban modernization company Sidewalk Labs, managed by who? Just from Google Alphabet, which makes sustainability the driving force of its projects. And it's really sustainability combined with the technology we're going to talk about today. The key element of this ambitious project is precisely the use of one of the most economic, ancient and ‘‘ green ’materials of all time: wood.
In Canada, being easy to find, wood is abundantly present but never before was used for the construction of a skyscraper. This is the basic idea on site in one of the nations most oriented towards protecting the environment.
A local material, therefore, that grows in importance and guarantees the Canadian real estate sector a green footprint.
The neighborhood interested in this eco-sustainable development will occupy about three million square meters of spaces dedicated to residential areas with multi-storey and as many public areas.
The novelty is not only in the use of wood, but in the percentage used: 100%.
In the past, Canada had already faced a similar challenge with stunning results. We recall that in 2014, this country was the cradle of the WIDC, the Wood Innovation and Design Center, in the city of Prince George. A complex building in its structure, designed by Michael Green Architecture, comprises eight floors with limited use of concrete. The supporting columns, the beams, and the walls are in fact made of solid wood which, in addition to giving an image with a particularly modern aesthetic level, ensures the possibility of flexible changes based on various needs.
Opening up to new technologies and ideas and protecting the environment, they come together and create a perfect union in this sector.
But that is not all. We also emphasize the Brock Commons in Vancouver, which houses the very young students of the University of Columbia. In this case the numbers are much higher: 17 floors and a project bearing the signature of Acton Ostry Architects. This is a mixed structure that allows the structural wood to be joined to two main concrete cores.
But Canada is not the only nation that has accepted the challenge of wood with open arms.
In Northern Europe we cannot omit the super green skyscraper Mjøstårnet in Brumunddal, Norway, which with its 85 meters and 18 floors ranks first in the rankings of the highest cross-laminated buildings in Europe.
Again, we are talking about a total-wood structure.
Structure not unique in Europe, but flanked by the famous Vienna Hoho Tower, but with a structure with a lower wooden percentage.
It looks like the real estate market is converting to wood!
In Canada, being easy to find, wood is abundantly present but never before was used for the construction of a skyscraper. This is the basic idea on site in one of the nations most oriented towards protecting the environment.
A local material, therefore, that grows in importance and guarantees the Canadian real estate sector a green footprint.
The neighborhood interested in this eco-sustainable development will occupy about three million square meters of spaces dedicated to residential areas with multi-storey and as many public areas.
The novelty is not only in the use of wood, but in the percentage used: 100%.
In the past, Canada had already faced a similar challenge with stunning results. We recall that in 2014, this country was the cradle of the WIDC, the Wood Innovation and Design Center, in the city of Prince George. A complex building in its structure, designed by Michael Green Architecture, comprises eight floors with limited use of concrete. The supporting columns, the beams, and the walls are in fact made of solid wood which, in addition to giving an image with a particularly modern aesthetic level, ensures the possibility of flexible changes based on various needs.
Opening up to new technologies and ideas and protecting the environment, they come together and create a perfect union in this sector.
But that is not all. We also emphasize the Brock Commons in Vancouver, which houses the very young students of the University of Columbia. In this case the numbers are much higher: 17 floors and a project bearing the signature of Acton Ostry Architects. This is a mixed structure that allows the structural wood to be joined to two main concrete cores.
But Canada is not the only nation that has accepted the challenge of wood with open arms.
In Northern Europe we cannot omit the super green skyscraper Mjøstårnet in Brumunddal, Norway, which with its 85 meters and 18 floors ranks first in the rankings of the highest cross-laminated buildings in Europe.
Again, we are talking about a total-wood structure.
Structure not unique in Europe, but flanked by the famous Vienna Hoho Tower, but with a structure with a lower wooden percentage.
It looks like the real estate market is converting to wood!
