Tall as the tallest tree

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has verified the completion of Mjøstårnet, a mixed-use building in Brumunddal, Norway that now holds the unique title of the “World’s Tallest Timber Building". 

At 85.4 meters, it is also the third-tallest building in Norway and the country’s tallest with mixed functions.

Mjøstårnet is appropriately located in an area of Norway known for its forestry and wood processing industry, sitting just metres away from Mjøsa, the country’s largest lake. Wood was chosen as the structural material due to recent advancements in the field of mass timber – particularly following the increased availability of large “glulam”, or glue-laminated timber, and cross-laminated timber (CLT) structural elements. 

Notably, wood is also the world’s only truly renewable building material, as it sequesters carbon throughout its lifecycle.

Moelven Limitre, the project’s structural engineer, supplied glulam columns, beams and diagonals, CLT elevator shafts, stairs, and floor slabs. The company was also responsible for the direct installation of the wooden structures in the building.

According to the revised criteria for timber structures, “both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning system must be constructed from timber. An all-timber structure may include the use of localised non-timber connections between timber elements. 

A building of timber construction with a floor system of concrete planks, or concrete slab on top of timber beams, is still considered a ‘timber’ structure, as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.”

Story by: The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)

Photography by: Moelven — Nina Rundsveen