A 25-story mass timber apartment building to be built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is set to become the world’s tallest building of its kind — that is, until it’s eclipsed by a 40-story mass timber office building expected to tower over Sydney by 2025. Source: Timberbiz
Tim Gokhman of the development team New Land recognizes that title will not be permanent.
“Will Atlassian’s building replace our building as the tallest mass timber hybrid, I think so,” Mr Gokhman said.
“I’ll be thrilled to watch them do it, to be completely honest with you. It looks like an amazing project. If there’s anything we’ve done that has helped them along the way, that’s great. If not, that’s also good.”
The race to build the world’s tallest mass timber building illustrates the enthusiasm among many architects and developers to use eco-friendly building material in driving a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say.
The 25-story apartment tower, to be known as Ascent, is being constructed at 700 E. Kilbourn Ave in Milwaukee’s East Town neighbourhood. First proposed in 2018, the tower will contain 259 high-end apartments when complete.
The tower relies on mass timber, an engineered product made by combining layers of lumber into a stronger material. The material is capable of building much taller buildings than conventional wood construction methods because it only chars (rather than burning through) in a fire and offers enhanced strength. Earlier this year a model unit passed a three-hour fire test.
Topping out at 283 feet, the building would surpass the 280-foot Mjos Tower in Norway. The building includes a six-story concrete base used as a parking garage.
A joint venture of Catalyst Construction and CD Smith is leading the building’s construction. The Portland office of general contractor Swinerton is also supporting the mass timber component of the project. Thornton Tomasetti is providing structural engineering services. The project team, in refining the building’s design and mechanical systems, has twice increased the building’s size. The latest modification added two floors to the building.
The building will be the city’s second mass timber structure. Ann Pieper Eisenbrown celebrated topping off her four-story mass timber addition to the Louis Bass Building at 331 S. 3rd St. in early December and completed the building earlier this year. And New Land has a seven-story, mass timber office building planned for Westown.
