Heightened interest in mass timber construction has resulted in an impressive, ever-growing list of upcoming projects around the world. These are just a few of those we’ll be watching closely over the next several years:
North America
T3 Bayside by 3XN
The Danish firm will be constructing a 10-storey timber office building – possibly the tallest in North America – in Toronto. Occupancy is expected in
late 2021.
77 Wade Avenue by Bogdan Newman Caranci (now BNKC Architecture + Urban Design)
This will be Toronto’s first NLT building, a hybrid of timber, concrete and steel. With seven storeys, it also aims to become Canada’s tallest mass timber commercial structure.
Canada Earth Tower by Perkins and Will
A proposal to build a CLT-hybrid, 340,000-sq.ft. mixed-use tower up to 40 storeys tall in Vancouver was announced last spring; there were no further updates as of press time.
Pier 70 by Hacker Architects
As part of a $3.5-billion, 28-acre development on the San Francisco waterfront, another project that aims to be the largest mass timber office building in North America (at six storeys tall and 310,000 sq.ft.) is expected to be completed in 2021.
Walmart Headquarters by Gensler with Fast + Epp
A 350-acre office campus in Arkansas will feature more than 2 million sq.ft. of mass timber construction, with completion in phases between 2020 and 2024.
Santa Clara Project by Foster + Partners
An $8-billion, 9.2-million-sq.ft. development in California will feature numerous mass timber structures on 240 acres. Construction starts this year, with the first phase scheduled
to open in 2023.
Toronto Tree Tower by Penda
This design proposal is for an 18-storey residential tower constructed of prefab modular CLT panels, with abundant patio garden spaces to create a tower of greenery; plans for construction have not been announced. Penda co-founder Chris Precht also proposed The Farmhouse, a modular mass timber high-rise concept with integrated greenhouses.
QMUNITY by ZGF Architects
In Vancouver, social housing and commercial space will be housed in a 17-storey mass timber building that is aiming for Passive House certification.
International
Dutch Mountains by BLOC, Studio Marco Vermeulen and Urban Xchange
Possibly the largest wooden building in the world – two connected towers – is being planned in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. A construction timeline has not been released.
Allas Sea Pool Family by OOPEAA (Office for Peripheral Architecture)
In 2016, the first Allas Sea Pool opened on the waterfront in Helsinki. An open competition recently invited proposals for a design that could be implemented anywhere, and OOPEAA’s design for a modular CLT structure was the winner. The developer plans to build these outdoor pools internationally, starting with the next one in Oulu, Finland (expected to open in early 2021).
W350 Skyscraper by Nikken Sekkei
A 70-storey, 1,148-ft.-tall hybrid mass timber skyscraper is being planned in Tokyo, to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Sumitomo Forestry in 2041 (the anticipated completion date).
Oakwood Timber Tower 2 by PLP Architecture with Cambridge University
A concept for London’s first timber skyscraper, the Oakwood Timber Tower, was revealed by this firm in 2016; a similar design, with a basketweave-style glulam facade, will be built in the Netherlands and aims to become the world’s tallest timber tower, at 426 feet tall. A construction timeline has not been announced.
