The dark, grey days late in the year are a great time to think about wood, a warm and cozy building material used over millennia. Wood now has a comeback in commercial urban construction.  First as 2x4s or 2x6s invisibly hidden behind drywall in wood-stick-construction of five story apartment buildings built on top of one or two story concrete decks. This cost effective wood construction method fueled much of the current boom of new apartments in cities. More interesting, though, is another method of constructing wooden office buildings and even high-rises. This feat becomes possible thanks to cross laminated timber (CLT), a form of engineered timber, a subgroup of mass timber construction. In those buildings wood becomes a visible design feature.

CLT construction: New heights (Photo: Der SPIEGEL)

To have a CLT building in town has become a badge of honor. The Pacific Northwest made the beginning, Washington DC has one, so does Minneapolis, Denver, and soon also Baltimore, as well as a growing number of other cities. CLT stands for being progressive and environmentally conscious. 150 years after the Chicago fire, building with wood in a major city is no longer seen as a hazard but as a cutting edge technology which is promoted not only by the timber industry but also by "smart city" proponents and sustainability advocates.

[CLT buidings can] contribute to people's wellness, are beautiful...

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