Denmark’s tallest timber building is completed

With its 20 floors and 78 meters the office building TRÆ in Aarhus holds a new national record for load-bearing timber structures in tall buildings. It is also a beacon for the use of recycled materials. These are used extensively, especially in the façade, where the sun shading is constructed from decommissioned wind turbine blades, for example.

At the Building Awards on November 21st, the following words were spoken when the pioneering project won the Green Award:

“The winner has significantly pushed the boundaries of sustainability in construction and contributed new knowledge and solutions to the industry.”

Praiseworthy words for the groundbreaking efforts were also found from the country’s most influential architecture critic, Karsten Iversen, who awarded 5 hearts to the building in the leading Danish newspaper Politiken a couple of weeks earlier.

Artelia has had the role of engineer on the project, which was developed by Kilden & Hindby, designed by Lendager, constructed by Kaj Ove Madsen, and where PFA is the developer.

Full-scale laboratory
Furthermore, the building houses the so-called “Living Lab,” which consists of three experimental floors where we have explored and tested the use of three different types of materials: recycled, upcycled, and bio-based. The purpose has been to create new knowledge and demonstrate how the materials can best be integrated into the construction and contribute to reducing the climate footprint.

Living Lab has functioned as a platform where building material manufacturers were invited to contribute their products. The materials and their roles in the design have been analyzed and tested with regard to CO2 footprint, aesthetics, constructional aspects, and compliance with various requirements. Additionally, we have investigated and documented the effect on the indoor climate and users’ reactions to various materials. The project has worked with sea wool, recycled beech parquet floors, clay panel walls, recycled fire doors, upcycled rhombus-shaped floors, paper studs, cork plaster, Hempcrete, and many other materials.