Craig Applegath, DIALOG Partner, will present “The Hybrid Timber Tower: Mass Timber for the Masses” at the International Mass Timber Conference in Portland on April 14, 2022.

The Hybrid Timber Tower: Mass Timber for the Masses

Sustainably harvested mass timber can sequester significant amounts of carbon as part of the solution to the climate crisis (1.9 metric tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent emissions for each cubic meter of wood product, according to a 21-study review). Yet despite this benefit, mass timber remains niche. DIALOG has designed a 105-storey Hybrid Timber Tower (HTT) prototype that maximizes the amount of carbon-sequestering mass timber and demonstrates the potential for mass timber across a range of building types and scales. Life cycle analyses show floor systems can contribute nearly three-quarters of the environmental impact of a tall building’s structure, so our team of architects and engineers designed a patent-pending, composite Hybrid Timber Floor System (HTFS) capable of 12 meter (40 feet) clear floor spans for Class-A office commercial space (current spans are restricted to about 8 meters or 26 feet). Incorporating the HTFS into the tower prototype, we were able to reduce structural embodied carbon by 46% while using 36,649 cubic meters of mass timber – 14 times more than the current tallest wood structure. The HTT won the Architecture award in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas for 2021.

About the International Mass Timber Conference

The International Mass Timber Conference is the largest gathering of mass timber experts in the world, focusing on the entire industry supply chain. This is the 7th annual event in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Explore cross-laminated timber (CLT), nail-laminated timber, glulam, mass plywood panels, dowel-laminated timber, and laminated veneer lumber; and the opportunities and obstacles in global manufacturing and construction.