Honorable Mention . + eVolo
“Big Wood” is a prototype on mass timber construction that offers the possibility to build more responsibly while actively sequestering pollutants from our cities.
Sited in Chicago; “Big Wood” aims to write a new chapter in high-rise construction.
Steel and concrete structural systems have been the primary materials of choice in skyscrapers construction over the years. Unfortunately, these materials have a heigh energy production and recycle costs considering the entire life of a structure.
Understanding that the construction industry accounts for 39% of man-made carbon emissions, it’s imperative that we develop more intelligent and less environmentally destructive strategies for construction. Recent studies had proved the success of 20-30 story mass timber structures with the potential to go higher using hybrid systems.
“Big Wood” is a mixed-use university complex sited in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood. The structure consists of a mass timber system utilizing lumber grown and manufactured on a brown-field site in South Chicago.
Known as “South Works”, the tree farm site was once home of a steel mill, where raw materials were brought in via barge on Lake Michigan. A majority of the steel used to build Chicago’s famous towers (including Willis and John Hancock) came through the South Works steel mill. Implementing a tree farm will extract toxins from the soil as well as carbon dioxide from Chicago’s air. While there is a future master-plan for a sustainable housing development on the site, politics have stalled the project and are likely to do so for the foreseeable future.
The university complex consists of three different housing types, retail, a library, a media hub, sports complex, parking, as well as a community park and garden.
Known as the birthplace of the skyscraper, Chicago is an optimal location for a prototype in mass timber construction. Similar to the rapid innovation in building technology that occurred in the early 1900s, “Big Wood” is positioned to be a catalyst for a new renaissance in high-rise construction, changing forever the shape of our cities.
