Building with Wood: Where do we stand today?

In many countries, timber construction is booming like never before. The know-how, the capacities of the timber industry, and the awareness of builders and architects about resources have grown steadily in recent years. Forest cover has increased in many regions of Europe. While experts predicted this positive development in timber construction, we still face a dilemma today. The renewable resource of wood has become scarce, and its prices have gone up. Is this raw material shortage only temporary? Anne Isopp interviewed several timber entrepreneurs about this topic for her article in this issue.

This issue of DETAIL magazine complements that by showing the potential timber has for architecture as a renewable resource. Julia Liese compiled the projects in this issue with consideration of different construction approaches, timber species, and building typologies. As always, we provide documentation on completed buildings – from elegant urban residences by Alliance architecture studio in Oslo, to compact refugee housing in Geneva by Acau Architecture – with plans and detailed sections. It is certainly no coincidence that three projects in this issue are from Scandinavia. Building with wood has a long tradition in the region, which benefits from widespread forests and a highly developed timber industry.

Building with Wood: Where do we stand today?

In many countries, timber construction is booming like never before. The know-how, the capacities of the timber industry, and the awareness of builders and architects about resources have grown steadily in recent years. Forest cover has increased in many regions of Europe. While experts predicted this positive development in timber construction, we still face a dilemma today. The renewable resource of wood has become scarce, and its prices have gone up. Is this raw material shortage only temporary? Anne Isopp interviewed several timber entrepreneurs about this topic for her article in this issue.

This issue of DETAIL magazine complements that by showing the potential timber has for architecture as a renewable resource. Julia Liese compiled the projects in this issue with consideration of different construction approaches, timber species, and building typologies. As always, we provide documentation on completed buildings – from elegant urban residences by Alliance architecture studio in Oslo, to compact refugee housing in Geneva by Acau Architecture – with plans and detailed sections. It is certainly no coincidence that three projects in this issue are from Scandinavia. Building with wood has a long tradition in the region, which benefits from widespread forests and a highly developed timber industry.