This Week in Wood: World’s Tallest Wood Building Proposed for Paris

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Is this sky-high structure the wooden equivalent to the Eiffel Tower? Proposed for Paris, the 35-story tower at the center of the Baobab complex will be the world’s tallest building made of wood if it ends up being built. In collaboration with French architectural partners DVVD and real estate group REI France, Canadian architecture firm MGA submitted the concept for a design competition called Reinventer Paris looking to revitalize architecture in one of the world’s poshest cities.

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Known for his pioneering work in tall wooden structures, lead architect Michael Green envisions the sustainable structure as an environmentally friendly and creative way to approach the city’s housing challenges. The Baobab complex includes residences, a student hotel, a bus station, an e-car hub and park-like green spaces.

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“We love the idea that a wood tower in Paris, however modest in some respects… will help champion a new global wave of building with more sustainable, renewable and beautiful materials,” Green told CNN.

The architects estimate that the wooden high-rise could sequester 3,700 metric tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to taking 2,207 cars off the roads for a year. MGA previously published a study called The Case for Tall Wood Buildings as a guide for other designers to look at the renewable material in a new way. Watch a video of Michael Green discussing the cultural perceptions of building with wood.