Lightweight ceilings for timber construction
Innovative projects call for innovative solutions. That’s how we can do things that would have been unimaginable twenty years ago – like build sky-scrapers out of timber. Adrian Ulrich, Team Leader Holzbau: “Switzerland brought in new fire prevention legislation in 2015, which triggered a quantum leap in timber construction.”
Innovation in timber construction
“Project Pi” an 80-meter-high residential tower no less than 27 storeys high is a highly innovative project that showcases a whole series of new techniques. The whole of the building’s supporting structure is made of timber, for example. But even though we are using timber to build the kind of framework that would conventionally be made of steel, it still meets all the current fire protection requirements.
“We have developed a ceiling that is 30% lighter than conventional concrete/steel ceilings and far thinner.”
Adrian Ulrich
“PROJECT PI”
With “Project Pi”, V-ZUG aims to provide homes for its employees that are affordable, but that also help meet the desire for urban living and individual lifestyles. Different types of apartment and versatile additional spaces enable flexible adaptation to changing life situations. “The internal logic of the high-rise builds on the idea of the vertical neighbourhood”, says Anne Kaestle, co-owner of Duplex Architekten. “Every three floors are arranged around a central, open space. This piazza serves as an arrival point, a dispersal zone and a gateway to the apartments. There will be ten of these neighbourhoods in total, each with 22 residential units – it will be easy for people to get know each other.” There will also be spacious communal areas, a publicly accessible ground floor (with co-working space, showroom and bistro), and a courtyard building with a children’s day-care centre.
In terms of construction, the advantages of timber, as a renewable raw material, are being combined with tried and tested building techniques. The frame structure, made of beech wood, is reminiscent of typical steel frames. “Trees grow up to 84 metres high, so nature shows us just how strong wood can be. We’re mastering the same challenge in Project Pi,” says Anita Eckardt, Head Division Specialties at Implenia. The newly developed wood-and-concrete composite ceilings also have the same structural strength as conventional concrete ceilings, but are much lighter and can be produced with significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Environmental sustainability will also be a feature once the building is in operation: photovoltaic modules in the façade will turn the whole structure into an energy generator and meet a portion of the residents’ power needs. Renewable heat and cooling will be sourced from the ground and from Lake Zug.
“Project Pi” combines innovative architecture and construction technology to create a coherent overall solution for sustainable, contemporary living.
How Switzerland’s tallest timber building will look when it is finished. All visualisations ®Filippo Bolognese
