Tower Proposed for Lausanne to Use Substantial Timber in Construction

Tilia Tower would deliver 37,000 square meters of floor space divided amongst residential, retail, and hotel functions.

02 February 2021 | Lausanne, Switzerland

In recent years, the number of timber towers around the world, as well as their height, has grown remarkably quickly. The latest notable example in this fast-moving area of sustainable architecture comes from 3XN—working in collaboration with IttenBrechbühl—and its mixed-use Tilia Tower, which is slated for the outskirts of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Assuming all goes ahead as planned, the Tilia Tower will reach a height of 85 meters (278 feet). To put this into perspective, it will far exceed the timber-composite Brock Commons Tallwood House which measures 57.9 meters (190 feet). It's also tantalizingly close to the current world's tallest all-timber tower, Mjøstårnet, which is 85.4 meters (280 feet). However, there's a wrinkle: it's not clear whether Tilia Tower will be all-timber like Mjøstårnet or include a concrete core, like the proposed Tree House (which will reach an impressive 140 meters (459 feet) thanks to the extra stability gained from the use of concrete).

Featured Buildings

Mjøstårnet

Tree House

Brock Commons Tallwood House

Tilia Tower

Other Referenced Buildings

Mjøstårnet

Tree House

Brock Commons Tallwood House

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3XN

Height aside, Tilia Tower's renderings highlight the natural beauty of the wood and a focus on maximizing daylight inside. The building's 37,000 square meters (roughly 400,000 square feet) of available floor space will be divided into residential apartments, retail space, and a hotel.

Additionally, as part of the overall project, an adjacent existing office building and badminton hall will be retained. These will undergo an an energy efficient renovation and their facades will also be transformed so as to better complement the new tower.

"We have worked with the philosophy of making a building that respects the human scale by emphasizing the connection to nature and by ensuring good daylight, which we know is important for human well-being," says Jan Ammundsen, the architect leading the Tilia Tower, in a press release. "Wood is a consistent material in the project which adds a natural, warm, and robust look. Wood is a fantastic building material, and it will add a fine tactile expression to the building. The Tilia Tower will be a bright, friendly, humane, and sustainable building."

The Tilia Tower design was chosen following an international architecture competition and is being developed by Insula SA and Realstone Group. There's no word yet on when the project is due to begin construction.

For more on this story, go to New Atlas.