![The history of building with wood [infographic]](/sites/default/files/Richmond_Olympic_Oval_intern_View.jpg "The history of building with wood [infographic]")
Even as other building materials emerge, from classics like steel, masonry and concrete to the recycled materials repurposed in large-scale 3D printing, wood is still here.
Advances in engineering, like cross-laminated timber (CLT), is making large wooden skyscrapers possible. A timber office tower is coming to London, a wooden residential complex is being built in Montreal, and Stockholm is planning a 40-story CLT skyscraper. An architect even designed an entire wood multifamily building district in Sweden.
Wood, particularly CLT, remains king for builders. Compared to steel and concrete, it's "cheaper, easier to assemble, and more fire resistant, thanks to the way wood chars," writes Clay Risen of Popular Science. "It’s also more sustainable. Wood is renewable like any crop, and it’s a carbon sink, sequestering the carbon dioxide it absorbed during growth even after it’s been turned into lumber."
The material has been around forever — the first timber home literally dates back to the Stone Age. Log Cabin Hub, a site dedicated to the planning, building, and living in log cabin homes, produced an infographic called Living with Wood: From the Beginning of Time, that chronicles the history of wood building.
(Click to enlarge)
Related Stories
K-12 Schools | Sep 30, 2024
The importance of selecting healthy materials for K-12 projects
Clark Nexsen interior designers Anna Claire Beethoven and Brittney Just, CID, IIDA, LEED Green Associate, share why it is imperative to specify healthy building materials in K-12 schools.
Airports | Aug 22, 2024
Portland opens $2 billion mass timber expansion and renovation to its international airport
This month, the Portland International Airport (PDX) main terminal expansion opened to passengers. Designed by ZGF for the Port of Portland, the 1 million-sf project doubles the capacity of PDX and enables the airport to welcome 35 million passengers per year by 2045.
Products and Materials | Aug 8, 2024
EPA issues $160 million in grants for clean manufacturing of steel, other construction materials
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide 38 grant recipients with nearly $160 million to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products.
Mass Timber | Jun 26, 2024
Oregon State University builds a first-of-its-kind mass timber research lab
In Corvallis, Oreg., the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex at Oregon State University aims to achieve a distinction among the world’s experimental research labs: It will be the first all-mass-timber lab meeting rigorous vibration criteria (2000 micro-inches per second, or MIPS).
Mass Timber | Jun 17, 2024
British Columbia hospital features mass timber community hall
The Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project in Duncan, British Columbia, features an expansive community hall featuring mass timber construction. The hall, designed to promote social interaction and connection to give patients, families, and staff a warm and welcoming environment, connects a Diagnostic and Treatment (“D&T”) Block and Inpatient Tower.
Mass Timber | Jun 10, 2024
5 hidden benefits of mass timber design
Mass timber is a materials and design approach that holds immense potential to transform the future of the commercial building industry, as well as our environment.
Products and Materials | May 31, 2024
Top building products for May 2024
BD+C Editors break down May's top 15 building products, from Durat and CaraGreen's Durat Plus to Zurn Siphonic Roof Drains.
Construction Costs | May 31, 2024
Despite challenges, 2024 construction material prices continue to stabilize
Gordian’s Q2 2024 Quarterly Construction Cost Insights Report indicates that supply chain issues notwithstanding, many commodities are exhibiting price normalization.
Mass Timber | May 22, 2024
3 mass timber architecture innovations
As mass timber construction evolves from the first decade of projects, we're finding an increasing variety of mass timber solutions. Here are three primary examples.
Mass Timber | May 8, 2024
Portland's Timberview VIII mass timber multifamily development will offer more than 100 affordable units
An eight-story, 72,000-sf mass timber apartment building in Portland, Ore., topped out this winter and will soon offer over 100 affordable units. The structure is the tallest affordable housing mass timber building and the first Type IV-C affordable housing building in the city.
