In article ,
says...

"[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...-for-cross-lam
inated-timber-panels.html?_r=1&ref=science

I had a few immediate questions the article did not seem to address:

1. Insulation value. With less than 6" of solid wood, that's under an R8
insulation value. There's probably some thermal mass, but it doesn't seem
like this system would be a good option in cold climates.

Why does the structure also have to be the insulation?

2. Utilities. As with a traditional log home, where to you run the
plumbing, electrical, and other services? You would either need to build a
secondary wall on the interior to provide space for these (negating the
advantages of the system), or restrict utilities to interior walls. I
suppose you could use surface mount conduit for electrical, but that's not
a good option for plumbing.

Where do you put the plumbing with reinforced concrete?

This isn't intended for ad-hoc house building, it's intended for
prefabricated structures where the panels are shipped to the site precut
and predrilled. The plumbing would have also been designed into the
structure before the first panel was cut.

3. The wood panels are touted as making efficient use of wood, but common
SIPS (structural insulated panels), use less wood, provide better
insulation, and offer at least some ability to route wiring (though I still
question the fire and insect resistance).

So when was the last time you saw a 9 story building made of SIPS?

As for your concerns about "fire and insect resistance" why would those
be any worse than for wood frame construction?

The main thing this system seems to have going for it is strength, which
I'm sure there are good situations it could be used for. But I would not
want to build an entire house with them.

Nor would anyone ask you to unless it was prefabbed.