Although the techniques to manipulate manufactured materials are better understood, the potential to generate materials with diverse properties based on plants may be far greater
- Michael Ramage
It’s not often that research begins with designing a wooden 70-storey office building that falls over, at least on paper. But this is what a group of architectural engineers in Cambridge did to demonstrate that wood is simply not up to the task.
Today, almost all new large-scale buildings are constructed using concrete and steel. Valued for their strength, flexibility and stability, these materials are nonetheless notoriously energy-intensive, with the manufacturing of construction materials for buildings suggested to account for around 5% of total UK emissions. Indeed, CO2 emissions embodied in how the fabric of the building is constructed can be just as significant as the operational emissions once it is occupied.
“It’s doubtful that much can be done to bring down the energy used in traditional manufacturing of concrete and steel. Primary savings will come only through demand reduction, including switching to other materials,” explained Michael Ramage, the architect behind the experimental wooden skyscraper. “We think there are tremendous opportunities for novel plant-based materials in construction but, as our skyscraper showed, the material itself must be redesigned.
“Forensic engineering showed that once our test building reached a certain height the wood at the bottom began to crush. We want to redesign wood from the molecular level to create some of the most advanced and sustainable construction materials known.”
It’s a compelling vision, and one that will require the combined efforts not just of architects and engineers, but also of plant biochemists, polymer chemists and experts in fluid mechanics. The ambitious five-year project aims to “fundamentally transform the way we build” and is led by Ramage from the Department of Architecture with £1.75 million funding from the Leverhulme Trust.
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Image: Bamboo
Credit: Jakob Montrasio
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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