France plans 'forest' of wooden high-rises

FRANCE is to build 36 high-rises made of wood in a €1billion project to boost the environment and the timber industry.

The ‘forest’ of timber high-rises, part of a government move to push new industries and create jobs, will create 24 towers of from six to 16 storeys giving 1,800 homes and 130,000m2 of floor space, rising to 220,000 m2 with 12 associated projects that are already in the pipeline.

These 12 associated projects include the world’s highest timber residential buildings, the 18-storey Hypérion and 16-storey Silva towers being started in Bordeaux and will provide 18 housing developments, four office blocks, a university and a hotel.

Timber buildings can be erected quicker and with less pollution than concrete as many of the parts are prefabricated off-site and the projects will provide affordable, low-energy housing quickly.

First construction will not start until the end of 2017 but building will only take a maximum of 12 months.

France has 15.7 million hectares of forest producing 103 million cubic metres of timber a year and it is Europe’s largest producer of Douglas Fir to be used for engineered timber and cross-laminate structures.

Put forward by local authorities as suitable sites ready to be developed, the 24 projects are all in initial planning, with architects, developers and builders still to be chosen. Final details will be given at next year’s Wood-Rise Summit in Bordeaux in September.

Frank Mathis, president of timber construction industry federation Adivbois, said the total work in the 36 projects would add up to “€1billion of business for the timber construction industry”.

The original plan from Adivbois had been to call for ‘demonstration’ projects to promote the industry with “perhaps four” being put forward but Mr Mathis said they were stunned when 28 were proposed and 24 were finally chosen as viable.

Projects are planned for Angers (10 storeys), Annemasse (10), Bordeaux (9), Dijon (6), Gennevilliers (13), Grenoble (10), Le Havre (13), Le Mans (10), Lille (13), Orléans (6), Paris Gare de Lyon/Daumesnil (12), Paris Office National des Forêts (10, on site still to be chosen), Paris Porte de Vanves (7), Paris Rive Gauche (two towers of 16 storeys), Paris Rue de Charenton (11), Saint Étienne (three towers, two of 10 storeys and one of 10-15), Saint Herblain (10), Strasbourg Lingols­heim, (9), Strasbourg Ostwald (10), Toulouse (10) and Villeurbanne (7).

The 12 sites where planning has already started are the Hypérion and Silva projects in Bordeaux plus the city’s 10-floor Metro­pôle, Ferney Voltaire (8 storeys), Grenoble (9), Marne La Vallée (11), Nancy (9), Nice (10), Paris Charbonnel (10), Rennes (10), Rouen (10) and Strasbourg (11).

Two of the most innovative projects are the Porte de Vanves tower in Paris which will be built over the Périphérique and the Gennevilliers HLM housing project which is being built above the station.

Although built with timber, there will be little wood on display as it turns grey and needs lots of maintenance – so the exterior finish will be in more modern materials.

Launched by Agriculture Minister Stéph­ane Le Foll in the run-up to the COP21 environmental summit – he said one cubic metre of wood was one tonne of CO2 stored – no government money is being given although tax breaks are included in the Nouvelle France Industrielle scheme.