Timber titans: Canada bosses mull wooden skyscrapers in sustainability push
Canada planning bosses are reportedly mulling wooden skyscrapers, as developers look to shrink their carbon footprint by moving away from steel and concrete.
The so-called ‘plyscrapers’ are popular in Norway, Sweden, Singapore and Japan, and can reach several hundred feet high.
The move could invite a host of new architecture to the Square Mile, as environmental sustainability and other ESG measures take hold of businesses.
Chairman of the Corporation’s planning and transport committee, Alastair Moss, said that factors such as environmental impact and fire safety would be considered as part of any new development, The Telegraph first reported.
The timber method has been used for thousands of years, with Todai-ji, a Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan, standing as the largest wooden building in the world, after being constructed in 1709.
It can also be more cost effective for developers.
However, it comes with campaigners hot on fire safety concerns, after developer Ballymore announced plans for a 51-storey skyscraper with just one fire escape in Tower Hamlets just days ago.
Campaigners and the London Fire Brigade had expressed outrage at the plans, with the Cuba Street tower set to have 655 rooms, at more than double the height of Grenfell Tower.
The plans were swiftly delayed. Though Moss assured that “any scheme approved by the planning and transportation committee will be required to meet all fire safety requirements as set out under the Building Regulations 2010, but this is a separate process.”