Tall & Urban News

A high-rise building recently completed in Yokohama, near Tokyo, could be among the tallest of its type in the area to be built largely of wood. The structure tops out at 44 meters.

Obayashi Corporation was responsible for putting up the 11-story building. The structure has a wooden framework that reduces its embodied carbon while meeting earthquake-resistance standards. The wooden pillars and beams used in the frame consist of three layers laminated together to increase strength. Special water-proofing technology to prevent swelling from exposure to rain means the structure can withstand an earthquake of an intensity of seven, the highest on the Japanese seismic scale.

Obayashi estimates that it cut carbon emissions to around a quarter of what would have been created by a similar structure made largely of reinforced concrete.

Japan is experiencing an increase in the construction of such buildings. In 2021, a 12-story building made of timber with a steel frame went up in Tokyo's high-end Ginza district. 

For more on this story, go to NHK World Japan.