On 11 Jun 2012 11:56:44 GMT, Han wrote:

"G.W. Ross" wrote in
m:

HeyBub wrote:
"[UK] Among the many apartment buildings in the London borough of
Hackney, the nine-story structure ... stands out, its exterior a mix
of white and gray tiles rather than the usual brick. But it’s what’s
underneath this cladding that makes the 29-unit building truly
different. From the second floor up, it is constructed entirely of
wood, making it one of the tallest wooden residential buildings in
the world."

The wood is kinda a super-plywood, up to 6" thick and 30' long.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/sc...s-for-cross-la
minated-timber-panels.html?_r=1&ref=science


How resistant is it to fire and termites?

I think the article said that fire was not a really big hazard for 2
reasons. The plywood sandwiches are covered by wallboard of some kind.
Therefore, the wood isn't really accessible for fires, and, moreover,it
has little air inside, so don't really support combustion. The article
showed a crosssection of a charred, but not really burnt piece as
evidence for this.

I wonder how it will fare when, not if, the first flood hits it.
People's sinks and tubs overflow quite often in apartment buildings.
And plumbing breaks. When this water hits the edge of the floors, it
goes into the voids in the walls. How will the laminated building glue
handle it when the wallboard holds the water inside the walls,
surrounding the plywood supports? I hope they tested for that.

I'm too much of a realist to want to ever live there.

--
Doctors prescribe medicine of which they know little,
to cure diseases of which they know less,
in human beings of which they know nothing.
--Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire, about 250 years ago