Canada’s Earth Tower aims to outshine all existing timber high-rise buildings. Its energy concept means that this 40-storey skyscraper in Vancouver will be the world’s tallest passive house.
This project is designed to revolutionize the construction industry. As a combination of the most ambitious environmental goals currently in existence, the 40-storey showpiece aspires to show the world how buildings should be developed in the age of climate change. Limitations? None at all. Or at least these were the instructions given to architectural firm Perkins + Will. The design of Canada’s Earth Tower in Vancouver was their responsibility. And almost in passing, the building will lay claim to the title of the “world’s tallest hybrid timber tower”. Although admittedly this title is changing hands with remarkable frequency right now.
Canada’s Earth Tower has joined the race for the title of the world’s tallest timber high-rise.
The Earth Tower will be built as a mixed-use project on a plot of land on Eighth Avenue, near Vancouver’s Burrard Slopes district. The architects and developers at Delta Land Development have ambitious plans. In timber hybrid design and rising around 150 metres into the sky, the tower also conforms to passive house standards. In other words, the building will not require a heating system. Passive sources will supply the required heat. These sources include solar energy and waste-heat recovery from humans and machines.
Passive house standards from Darmstadt
And so Canada’s Earth Tower will definitely outclass what is currently the world’s tallest passive house: the Bolueta tower in the Basque city of Bilbao. This black, block-like building stands 88 metres tall and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Closely followed by a student hall of residence in Manhattan which is just two metres smaller.
We are showing the world that we can – we must – design better buildings to affect real change.
Perkins + Will, architects
The world’s first passive house was completed exactly 30 years ago in Darmstadt, Germany. Therefore, the city is also home to the Passive House Institute, which monitors adherence to the passive house criteria. “Certification means comprehensive quality assurance to ensure that the high level of energy savings and ideal living comfort are actually achieved,” explains the Institute.
A building without emissions
While aspiring to meet an annual energy goal of 40 kWh per m², the designers want to go even further than Vancouver’s Zero Emissions Building Plan. The city aims to use this plan to create uniform guidelines amid the confusion surrounding different ways to calculate emissions footprints. Currently there is no uniform certification for the construction of a zero-carbon or zero-energy building.
In recent years numerous buildings and settlement projects that aspire to offset their primary energy needs and the associated CO₂ emissions have been completed around the world. But the methods used to calculate these details differ greatly. And now there are also construction projects that create more energy than they consume. One of these Plus Energy buildings is the spectacular Svart Resort by Snøhetta, which is currently being developed in Norway.
Benefits for the community
The concept behind the Earth Tower in Vancouver, Canada, aims to improve the quality of life in urban residential high-rise buildings. Future inhabitants of the tower will have access to south-facing winter gardens that are three storeys high. Each one of these lush winter gardens will be shared by 12 to 18 households. An additional glasshouse is situated on the roof terrace, where a bird’s eye view of the city and its harbour can be enjoyed.
Creating biodiversity and public space will allow the architects to offer the community a number of benefits. “By working with a visionary client, we are showing the world that we can – we must – design better buildings to affect real change,” say the architects at Perkins + Will.
Text: Gertraud Gerst Translation: Rosemary Bridger-Lippe Renderings: Perkins + Will
Other articles that might interest you
#city planning
Vertical allotments for urban farming
Self-sufficiency is no longer a dream reserved for downshifters. The modular building system named The Farmhouse designed by Studio Precht allows residents to grow food in big cities.
#greenbuilding
Timber pavilion with high-tech design
Homerton College at the University of Cambridge has chosen the design by Alison Brooks Architects for a pavilion that combines modern timber construction with high-tech facilities. It is expected to be a future-facing answer to their needs.
#greenbuilding
Green, greener, Växjö!
The Swedish university city of Växjö has been named “the Greenest City in Europe”. Half of all its new buildings have been built with timber. But the city plans to go even further.
#city planning
Timber through and through
The Scandinavians have shown their pioneering strength once again, this time in the design for a new cultural centre. The Sara Kulturhus in Sweden’s Skellefteå is among the world’s tallest high-rise structures built entirely from wood.
#greenbuilding
The exported timber high-rise
When it comes to timber construction engineering, the United States has been lagging behind other countries. Ascent Tower in Milwaukee aims to change this. Topping out as the world’s tallest timber tower at a height of 284 feet, the building uses expertise and structural elements from Austria.
#interior
Shopping inside a timber canyon
As many as 40,000 pieces of wood had to be fitted together for the gift shop in the National Museum of Qatar. The inspiration behind this award-winning interior design was supplied by a miracle of nature in Qatar’s desert.
#greenbuilding
Replacing concrete with earth
On the edge of the tropical rainforest in Mexico, a research museum will explore how nature and progress can be reconciled. Known as Xinatli, its sophisticated design takes a fresh look at circular building materials.
#living
Back to the roots
The eco-friendly residential project Roots will be the new landmark of Hamburg’s HafenCity and the tallest timber high-rise in Germany. Architect Jan Störmer reveals what its future residents will have in common.
#greenbuilding
Timber with talent and technology
The Danish office 3XN is planning to build North America’s tallest timber office building in Toronto. Called T3 Bayside, the complex will offer more than 500,000 sq. ft. of next-generation office space when completed.
#city planning
Back to the future
Oslo was once built entirely of wood. The project chosen to redesign the area around its railway station heralds the return of this traditional building material to the Scandinavian metropolis. A spectacular office tower with an innovative hub is being developed, named Fjordporten.
#greenbuilding
Forest bathing on your doorstep
Dutch architectural firm Gaaga has designed a residential building in Eindhoven that is distinctly people- and environment-friendly. Surrounded by trees, it is situated in the middle of a park.
A design hotel on a bunker
The redevelopment of an above-ground Nazi-era bunker is Hamburg’s largest building project since the Elbe Philharmonic Concert Hall. With spectacular rooftop gardens and nhow Hamburg design hotel, this new landmark in the heart of the St. Pauli district is sure to become a magnet for visitors.
#greenbuilding
The tessellated pavilion
Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and Australian artist Geoff Nees teamed up to design the Botanical Pavilion – a wooden pavilion that is constructed like a 3D puzzle – without using any kind of glue or screws.
#greenbuilding
The house made by 3D printers
The round construction known as TECLA has created quite a stir. Having teamed up as 3D printing pioneers, WASP and Mario Cucinella Architects have produced the first CO₂-free housing prototype printed entirely from raw earth.
#greenbuilding
Origami in wood
Japanese architectural firm UENOA has created a wooden office that has no need for bearing walls. Folded origami-style, the ceiling construction gives a whole new lightness to cross-laminated timber.
#greenbuilding
“Climate change changes everything”
Sustainability is a top priority for the Powerhouse Company. In an interview, partner Stefan Prins explains why this means more than just a careful choice of materials and energy efficiency, and how essential it is to consider all the changes brought about by climate change when building.
#greenbuilding
A timber high-rise goes into production
The Life Cycle Tower One was the first timber high-rise in Austria and the prototype for a new type of serial construction. CREE founder Hubert Rhomberg explains the green building concept and why we have to learn to think in lifecycles.
#greenbuilding
Wood on London’s skyline
Researchers at Cambridge University are helping to turn London’s spectacular vision of a wooden skyscraper into reality. The Oakwood Timber Tower is to rise 300 metres into the sky, almost level with the tallest building in the city.
#greenbuilding
Timber housing on a modest budget
Most people looking for a new home with a sustainable design need to have deep pockets. Rotterdam’s Pendrecht district aims to buck this trend courtesy of timber building Valckensteyn, the brainchild of the architects at Powerhouse Company.
#greenbuilding
All in the name
In Düsseldorf, The Cradle is gradually taking shape. The timber hybrid office building is being constructed according to circular economy principles, and these will also govern its future use.
#greenbuilding
Twin peaks for the Netherlands
The Dutch city of Eindhoven will soon be home to the world’s highest “plyscraper”. The two towers – 100 and 130 metres high and known as the Dutch Mountains – are to set new standards in high-rise timber construction.
#city planning
New Kiez on the Block
An entire residential complex in Berlin-Kreuzberg is to be built out of timber – vertically. With a planned height of almost 100 metres, WoHo is set to be Germany’s tallest timber building.
#greenbuilding
Crowned with timber
A mixed-use project in Sweden’s Gothenburg is being crowned by star architect Dorte Mandrup. The jewel in this crown is its use of timber. The new eco construction is intended to become an icon in sustainable urban architecture.
#interior
Feel-good furniture
Designed by US architect David Rockwell, built according to WELL Building Standard principles. The Sage Collection by British furniture maker Benchmark is good for humans and the environment.
#city planning
Plyscraper on Lake Geneva
Swiss urban planning combines prominent architecture with ecological timber construction. Lausanne’s Tilia Tower is setting a high standard in future-proof urban development.
#city planning
A district made of wood
Munich’s Prinz-Eugen-Park is the site of the largest integrated timber settlement in Germany. And that’s not all – the city planners have even more in the pipeline.
#greenbuilding
Gare Maritime restored in timber splendour
Once Europe’s largest freight station, Brussels’ monumental Gare Maritime is now the largest European CLT project. Neutelings Riedijk Architects have transformed the historic structure into a covered district, giving it a sustainable new lease of life using cross-laminated timber.
#greenbuilding
Sydney hosts a timber innovation
The plans just unveiled for the new, 180-metre-high timber tower designed for the Sydney-based software giant Atlassian represent a milestone in environmentally friendly construction using this renewable raw material.
#greenbuilding
Baptism of fire
Charred is the new black. An ancient Japanese technique for conserving wood is all the rage in contemporary architecture. As well as looking sophisticated, this building material scores top marks when it comes to sustainability.
