In a significant step to advance a design concept awarded as the winner of Fast Company‘s “2021 World Changing Ideas” in architecture earlier this year, this week DIALOG officially filed for the patent of our Hybrid Timber Floor System (HTFS). Once approved, the system could lead to the introduction of mass timber structural solutions into the supertall tower category, thus significantly reducing the environmental impact of tall building development in high density urban areas.
Our Zero Carbon Hybrid Timber Supertall Prototype was named by Fast Company magazine as one of the top “World Changing Ideas” of 2021. The floor system’s structural patent filing, now underway, advances the concept closer toward reality. With post-tensioned steel cables encased in concrete bands and embedded into Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) panels, DIALOG’s Hybrid Timber Floor System will allow for a 40-foot (or 12-metre) column-free span, where standard CLT design systems currently span just three-quarters of that distance. With the novel combination of these materials and its unique features, the HTFS could be deployed in buildings, around the world, to dramatic heights.
The patents have been filed in Canada, the United States, the European Union, Australia and China.
The HTFS combines cross-laminated timber panels with steel, and concrete to build high rise towers with a significantly reduced carbon footprint. When incorporated with other smart building technologies, such as photovoltaic panels, algae bioreactors, or other renewable energy solutions, towers as tall as 105-storeys could achieve carbon neutrality.
