Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd, a member of the Sumitomo Group, has big plans to celebrate the Group’s 350th anniversary in the year 2041: a 350-meter wooden tower that comprises retail, office, hotel, and residential space. The Tokyo-based tower would become Japan’s tallest building and the tallest wooden skyscraper in the world.
The overall goal of the high-rise, dubbed W350, is to help realize an environmentally conscious city of wooden buildings that would transform Tokyo into a “forest.” Sumitomo describes the tower as “a living place of living things.”
Courtesy of Sumitomo.
The mixed-use building, which is being designed in collaboration with Japanese architecture firm Nikken Sekkei, will be a wood and steel hybrid that consists of 90% wood. The interior will be made entirely of wood. It is designed to rise 70 stories and 350 meters (1148 feet) into the Tokyo sky. The total floor area will be approximately 455,000 sm and will use 185,000 cubic meters of wood. The company says using this amount of wood would have a two-pronged effect: it will equip the tower to remove about 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air and will also be a catalyst to encourage reforestation.
The tower is designed with a braced tube structure. This system forms a cylindrical shell with columns/beams and braces. The braces are placed diagonally in a set of shafts assembled with columns and beams to prevent the building from deforming against lateral forces like earthquakes and wind. Balconies will wrap the exterior of the building to provide fresh air, nature, and sunlight.
Courtesy of Sumitomo.
W350’s cost is estimated at 600 billion yen, or $5.6 billion. For comparison, One World Trade Center cost $3.6 billion. Sumitomo says the cost of the wooden tower is almost twice that of conventionally constructed high-rise buildings. In order to bring those costs down, the company is accelerating its research and technology development in an attempt to increase the construction and economic feasibility of the project.
Courtesy of Sumitomo.
The current tallest wooden building in the world is the Brock Commons on the University of British Columbia campus. The building stands 53 meters, almost 300 meters shorter than the planned W350.
Japanese architecture firm Nikken Sekkei is helping to design the tower.
Courtesy of Sumitomo.
Related Stories
High-rise Construction | Mar 10, 2016
Bigger, taller, wider: London’s skyline is about to have a major growth spurt
More than 100 tall buildings have been added to the plans for the capital city since this time last year, and the overall number of tall buildings planned for London is now over 400.
High-rise Construction | Mar 9, 2016
Seismic Design Working Group calls for participation in peer review process
Research at an advanced stage.
High-rise Construction | Mar 8, 2016
Weston Williamson designs vertical neighborhood with ‘kissing towers’ in Hong Kong
The towers will connect between the 21st and 25th floors. The entire complex will sit above a high-speed rail line.
High-rise Construction | Mar 7, 2016
Russian architect Vasily Klyukin unveils design for Asian Cobra Tower
The skyscraper, which can change colors and would house a nightclub in its "mouth," is the latest idea from an unconventional thinker.
High-rise Construction | Mar 3, 2016
LA's U.S. Bank Tower to build exterior glass slide leading from 70th to 69th floors
The glass slide, part of a $50 million renovation project, will stretch 45 feet along the exterior of the building.
High-rise Construction | Mar 3, 2016
HOK’s Hertsmere House will be Western Europe’s tallest residential tower
Recently approved for development, the 67-story building will have more than 900 units.
High-rise Construction | Feb 29, 2016
China’s best new skyscrapers: Wangjing SOHO and Asia Pacific Tower are among CTBUH award winners
The award program’s first year honored projects, designers, and builders stretched across six distinct awards categories for high-rise construction.
High-rise Construction | Feb 25, 2016
Kohn Pedersen Fox wants to build a mile-high tower in Tokyo
The tower would be the centerpiece of Next Tokyo, a mini city in Tokyo Bay adapted to climate change and rising tides.
High-rise Construction | Feb 19, 2016
SHoP Architects designs supertall Brooklyn skyscraper
Developers plan to incorporate a landmark bank into the tower's footprint.
High-rise Construction | Feb 16, 2016
PLP Architecture re-imagines what it means to be a skyscraper
Coming in at just under ‘megatall’ status, the 595-meter Nexus Building forgoes the central core design typical of most skyscrapers.