Wooden building? Swedish architects show that it is already possible

It's not uncommon to see wood taking center stage in interior design – especially among those who love carpentry – but who would have thought that a building could be made of this same material? To prove it, architects from the White Arktekter studio in Sweden have completed a November last year a commercial building that explores both wood and glass in its structure. Named Nodi , the office was created precisely to demonstrate the strength and structural potential of wood. The architects opted for an "inverted structure" that allows the floor plates to increase in size and reinforce the structure, from the base to the top, of the five-story block. Wood is present both on the exterior and interior of the project. This is a construction of glued laminated timber beams, also known as " glulam" , which was manufactured by the Swedish company Moelven using spruce trees grown in central Sweden and Norway. "We wanted to expose as much of the wooden frame as possible , to showcase the simple yet expressive aesthetic of the wood," said Joakim Hansson , lead architect on the project.

The space is geared towards a variety of commercial activities – especially retail. The building has four floors of offices and shops, which are located on the ground floor. All workspaces are well-equipped, with a complete structure that houses meeting rooms, kitchens, bathrooms , stairs and elevators .

Sustainability

With the project, White Arkitekter became the first company to use wood for construction, having committed to neutralizing carbon emissions in all its buildings by 2030. The studio – which has offices across Sweden, as well as locations in the UK, Denmark and Norway – also recently completed one of the world’s tallest timber towers and Scandinavia’s first zero-energy hotel. Source: Dezeen