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Yes, skyscrapers can be built with substantial amounts of engineered wood, but “wooden skyscraper” does not necessarily mean a tower made entirely of timber. Completed buildings and proposed designs use timber-dominant or hybrid structures, and their climate benefits, fire strategy and code approvals depend on the details of each project.
What makes a skyscraper a wooden building?
High-rise construction uses engineered wood products rather than relying on ordinary sawn lumber for every structural component. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is made by layering boards in alternating directions; laminated wood products are also used in structural systems. These components can form significant parts of a building’s structure, but a project may still rely on concrete or steel for other elements or connections.
That distinction matters when comparing projects. Some are timber-dominant; others are hybrids. SOM’s Timber Tower Research Project, for example, describes a proposed “Concrete Jointed Timber Frame”: mass timber would provide primary structural elements, with reinforced concrete used for connections. The concept and its estimated carbon reduction are specific to SOM’s design and benchmark, not a description of every timber tower.
What does the climate evidence show?
A 2024 study by Kumar, Lo Ricco, Bergman, Nepal and Poudyal compared modeled multi-story residential buildings using mass timber, structural steel and reinforced concrete. The U.S. Forest Service research record describes nine modeled buildings spanning three heights and the three structural systems, based on 2021 International Building Code provisions. In the study’s cradle-to-grave system boundary, mass-timber cases had an estimated global-warming potential 39–51% lower than functionally equivalent reinforced-concrete buildings and 28–34% lower than functionally equivalent structural-steel buildings.
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The result changes with the accounting boundary. When the study extended its analysis to include module D treatment of biogenic carbon and material recyclability, it reported estimated reductions of 81–94% against reinforced concrete and 76–91% against structural steel. Those larger ranges belong to that expanded boundary; they should not be treated as the default result or as a guaranteed reduction for a real project.
SOM separately estimates a 60–75% embodied-carbon reduction for its Timber Tower Research Project compared with a benchmark concrete building. That is an estimate for SOM’s proposed concept and its chosen benchmark, not a result that can be transferred directly to other towers.
Why project boundaries matter
A life-cycle comparison is shaped by what the timber structure replaces, how much steel or concrete remains in the design, and how the assessment accounts for biogenic carbon, recyclability and time horizons. A percentage is useful only alongside the building comparison and boundary that produced it; study estimates and a design firm’s benchmark should not be mistaken for measured savings across all timber high-rises.
Which timber high-rises are built, and which are still proposals?
The examples below span completed buildings and proposed projects. Heights and claims are attributed to the organizations identified; they are not a like-for-like ranking because their status, structural systems and reported information differ.
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| Project | Status and height | Structure or project-specific evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 80 M Street, Washington, DC | Opened September 2022; height not stated in Arup’s project account. | Arup describes a timber overbuild. It says the project team worked with the architect and DC code authority on fire and life-safety requirements. |
| HAUT, Amsterdam | Completed project; 73 meters, as cited by the Institution of Structural Engineers. | Arup describes it as a hybrid timber residential high-rise and reports BREEAM-NL Outstanding certification in September 2023. |
| SAWA, Rotterdam | Residential project; height not stated in NICE Developers’ project description. | The developer describes cross-laminated timber and laminated wood in the main supporting structure. |
| NICE Tower, Rotterdam | 140-meter proposal announced by NICE Developers in 2024. | Design and emissions claims are developer statements about a proposed residential tower. |
| W350, Japan | 350-meter project described by Nikken Sekkei as planned for completion in 2041. | A future project target, not a completed building. |
The distinction between an operating building and a future target is important: W350’s stated height and 2041 schedule describe a planned project, while 80 M Street opened in 2022. The available project information does not establish an independently verified current global ranking of the tallest completed timber skyscraper.
How are fire safety and code approval handled?
Fire and life-safety compliance is addressed through project-specific engineering and the applicable jurisdiction’s code process; a single project approval does not establish a universal rule for timber towers. Arup’s account of 80 M Street says its team worked with the architect and Washington, DC’s code authority to demonstrate that the project solution met current fire and life-safety requirements. That is evidence about 80 M Street, not a substitute for local requirements or review of another building.
Certification is a separate kind of evidence. Arup reports that HAUT received BREEAM-NL Outstanding certification in September 2023. That certification belongs to HAUT; it does not by itself certify other timber projects or establish that every environmental impact is lower.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can’t be concluded from these examples?
- The available studies and project claims do not establish one carbon-saving percentage that applies to every timber high-rise. The modeled study comparisons and SOM’s concept estimate use different scopes and benchmarks.
- The cited sources do not support a like-for-like conclusion about timber tower construction cost or speed.
- The cited examples do not establish a verified current record-holder for the tallest completed timber skyscraper.
Wood is extending the structural options for tall buildings, but “sustainable” is a project-level conclusion, not an automatic property of timber. The strongest claims are those tied to a clearly specified building, comparison, life-cycle boundary and approval context.
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