World’s tallest wooden tower to be built in Australia

Western Australia may soon be home to the world’s tallest wooden building, after authorities in Perth green-lit plans for a 191.2-meter-tall (627-foot) “hybrid” tower constructed using mass timber.

On Thursday, Perth’s Metro Inner-South Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) approved Grange Development’s proposal for the skyscraper, currently dubbed the C6 building, which would stand nearly twice as high as the current record holder.

The developers say 42% of the proposed tower will be constructed from timber, with the columns and core made of reinforced concrete.

If completed, the high-rise will surpass the world’s tallest timber-concrete hybrid building, the Ascent tower in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which stands at 25 stories or 86 meters (284 feet), according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

The proposed structure, located on Charles Street in South Perth, will also be taller than the forthcoming hybrid timber Atlassian Headquarters in Sydney, which is poised to claim the record from Ascent but is yet to be completed.

Like Atlassian, the proposed C6 tower will combine laminated timber beams with a steel exoskeleton to support the the structure.

(An artist's rendering of an apartment in C6.)

According to Grange Development, the 50-story tower will contain more than 200 apartments and will be Western Australia’s first carbon-negative residential building.

The tower will use 7,400 cubic meters (over 260,000 cubic feet) of timber harvested from 600 trees, according to Grange.

Beyond using timber, Grange’s plan also includes green features such as a rooftop garden, an urban farm.

Ref: World’s tallest wooden tower to be built in Australia (edition)