Made of solid timber and situated about an hour from Stockholm in the Kajstaden district of Västerås, a recently completed multifamily development has become the tallest timber building Sweden. The walls, beams, balconies, elevators, and stairwells are all made from cross-laminated timber.
Rising 8.5 stories and spanning 7,500 sm, the Kajstaden project features four apartments on each level. Each floor took three craftsmen an average of three days to build. The project uses mechanical joints and screws, which means, if necessary, the building can be taken apart at a later date and the materials reused.
Courtesy C.F. Møller Architects.
See Also: Gensler designs Texas’ first full mass timber building
It is estimated that a building made of solid wood instead of concrete will have a total carbon dioxide savings of 550 tons of CO2 over the building’s life. Use of CNC-milled solid timber and glulam provides an airtight, energy-efficient building without adding other materials to the walls. The low weight of timber also means fewer deliveries to the construction site.
The building was developed in collaboration with Martinsons, Bjerking, and Consto AB, with Slättö Förvaltning as the client.
Courtesy C.F. Møller Architects.
Related Stories
| May 18, 2011
8 Tips for Designing Wood Trusses
Successful metal-plate-connected wood truss projects require careful attention to detail from Building Team members.
| Jan 21, 2011
Sustainable history center exhibits Fort Ticonderoga’s storied past
Fort Ticonderoga, in Ticonderoga, N.Y., along Lake Champlain, dates to 1755 and was the site of battles in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The new $20.8 million, 15,000-sf Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center pays homage to the French magasin du Roi (the King’s warehouse) at the fort.
| Jan 21, 2011
Music festival’s new home showcases scenic setting
Epstein Joslin Architects, Cambridge, Mass., designed the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Mass., to showcase the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, as well at the site’s ocean views.
| Dec 17, 2010
5 Tips on Building with SIPs
Structural insulated panels are gaining the attention of Building Teams interested in achieving high-performance building envelopes in commercial, industrial, and institutional projects.
| Dec 7, 2010
USGBC: Wood-certification benchmarks fail to pass
The proposed Forest Certification Benchmark to determine when wood-certification groups would have their certification qualify for points in the LEED rating systemdid not pass the USGBC member ballot. As a result, the Certified Wood credit in LEED will remain as it is currently written. To date, only wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council qualifies for a point in the LEED, while other organizations, such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the Canadian Standards Association, and the American Tree Farm System, are excluded.
| Nov 3, 2010
Sailing center sets course for energy efficiency, sustainability
The Milwaukee (Wis.) Community Sailing Center’s new facility on Lake Michigan counts a geothermal heating and cooling system among its sustainable features. The facility was designed for the nonprofit instructional sailing organization with energy efficiency and low operating costs in mind.
| Nov 3, 2010
Dining center cooks up LEED Platinum rating
Students at Bowling Green State University in Ohio will be eating in a new LEED Platinum multiuse dining center next fall. The 30,000-sf McDonald Dining Center will have a 700-seat main dining room, a quick-service restaurant, retail space, and multiple areas for students to gather inside and out, including a fire pit and several patios—one of them on the rooftop.
| Nov 2, 2010
Cypress Siding Helps Nature Center Look its Part
The Trinity River Audubon Center, which sits within a 6,000-acre forest just outside Dallas, utilizes sustainable materials that help the $12.5 million nature center fit its wooded setting and put it on a path to earning LEED Gold.
| Oct 12, 2010
Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Gartner Auditorium was originally designed by Marcel Breuer and completed, in 1971, as part of his Education Wing at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Despite that lofty provenance, the Gartner was never a perfect music venue.
| Aug 11, 2010
SFI releases new sustainable forestry standard
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative has released a new standard. SFI 2010-2014 addresses climate change and bioenergy; strengthen unique SFI fiber sourcing requirements, which broaden the practice of sustainable forestry; complements SFI activities aimed at avoiding controversial or illegal offshore fiber sources, and embraces Lacey Act amendments to prevent illegal logging; and expands requirements for logger training and support for trained loggers and certified logger programs.
