With the number of people living in cities expected to double by 2050 , engineers and architects are increasingly returning to wood to see whether it can meet people ’ s appetite for high-rise living without destroying the climate in the process .
This trend has largely been driven by the densely forested countries of northwestern Europe , with the construction of increasingly high towers such as the 275-foot HoHo Wien tower in Austria and Norway ’ s 280-foot high Mjøstårnet , both completed in 2019 , followed by Sweden ’ s 246-foot Sara Kulturhus , inaugurated in September 2021 . Now timber towers are spreading across the world . The 284-foot tall Ascent tower in Milwaukee , designated the world ’ s tallest timber-concrete hybrid building by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat , was completed in 2022 . Other mass timber projects have recently been completed or are underway in the U . S ., Canada ,
Australia , France and Germany .
PHOTO COURTESY OF C . D . SMITH CONSTRUCTION
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