Sumitomo Forestry to build 350-metre wooden skyscraper in Tokyo

Japanese company Sumitomo Forestry plans to build the world's tallest wooden skyscraper in Tokyo in 2041. The 350-metre building will mark the company's 350th anniversary. The construction of this building will require 185,000 m3 of wood and will cost 600 billion yen ($5.6 billion). The aim is to create environmentally-friendly and timber-utilizing cities where they become forests through increased use of wooden architecture for high-rise buildings, company said in a statement.

This concept plan has been prepared primarily at Tsukuba Research Institute, Sumitomo Forestry’s research and development facility. The institute is expanding possibilities for wooden buildings as a road map for future technology such as the development of building methods, environmentally-friendly technologies, and trees that become resources and building materials.

The planned structure the 70-story skyscraper will be wood and steel hybrid made from 90% wooden materials. It will use a braced tube structure in which steel frame vibration control braces (diagonal braces) are positioned inside a column and beam structure, made from a combination of wood and steel. The outermost side is designed with balconies that continue around all four sides of the building. The balcony part gives the high-rise building a space in which people can enjoy fresh outside air, rich natural elements and sunshine filtering through foliage. The greenery connects from the ground to the top floors through the balcony part, and it offers a view of biodiversity in an urban setting. The interior structure is of a pure wood, producing a calm space that exudes the warmth and gentleness of wood. Nikken Sekkei Ltd . collaborated in the design of this building.