Starchitect Shigeru Ban’s Hybrid Timber Tower will Soar to New Heights

Brief 

There has been a huge boom in sustainable timber construction lately. Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban offers the latest example of this trend with an ambitiously tall hybrid timber tower that’s currently und.

Insight

There’s a huge boom in sustainable timber construction at the moment, with everything from museums to airports being made from modern engineered wood. Renowned Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban offers the latest example of this trend with an ambitiously tall hybrid timber tower that’s currently under construction in Antwerp, Belgium.

The timber skyscraper is named Ban and is being developed by Triple Living. It will rise to a height of 80 m (262 ft) and contain 25 floors, which is not too far from the current world’s tallest wooden skyscraper, the Ascent, with a maximum height of 86.6 m (284 ft).

Structurally, Ban will be quite complex and while it will of course make use of lots of timber, like other hybrid timber towers we’ve seen it will feature steel and concrete too, for the core hosting the staircase and elevator, plus some other structural elements.

Though the project is centered around the skyscraper, there will be another smaller timber building nearby. Between the pair, they will offer 295 residential units, at least some of which will have balcony areas and terraces. All homes will feature generous glazing to maximize daylight inside.

The skyscraper will be topped by a rooftop terrace area and there will also be a Japanese-inspired courtyard garden by landscape architect Bas Smets. The entire development will form part of a larger car-free neighborhood being built called Nieuw Zuid.