Norway builds the world's tallest wooden tower

Norway has completed the frame of the world's tallest wooden tower in the town of Brumunddal, about 100 km north of the capital Oslo. The Mjostarnet Tower is being hailed as an environmentally friendly and fire-resistant structure.

Mjostarnet is being built on the shores of Lake Mjosa, Norway’s largest lake. Designed by architect Voll Arkitekter, the project began construction in early September 2017 and is expected to be completed in March 2019. The 18-storey tower will include apartments, a hotel, restaurants, offices, communal areas and an indoor swimming pool.

According to Arthur Buchardt, the project's investor, the use of wood, a renewable material, will help reduce CO2 emissions by 30% compared to concrete. "Wooden constructions will contribute to creating a cleaner world. I want to convey this important message to everyone through the project," Buchardt emphasized.

Not only is the building environmentally friendly, it is also fire-resistant. Project engineers say the building uses laminated timber and is very difficult to ignite. It only ignites when exposed to continuous flame for a long time.

Initially, the Mjostarnet tower was designed to be 81 m high, but later a 4.4 m high climbing frame was added to the top of the tower, making the structure slightly taller than the 84 m high HoHo tower currently under construction in the Austrian capital Vienna, not to mention that the HoHo tower is only built from 76% wood.

Over the years, many ambitious wooden projects have been proposed, such as the 120-meter-high Baobab Tower project in Paris, France or the 87-meter-high Abebe Court tower awaiting construction in Lagos, Nigeria.