World's Tallest Wood Building Showcases Lumber in Commercial Construction

As of last October, the world’s tallest wood building constructed in modern times, using contemporary techniques, could be found on the campus of the University of Northern British Columbia, in the city of Prince George. The eight-story, 96-foot-tall Wood Innovation and Design Centre (WIDC), designed by Vancouver-based Michael Green Architecture (MGA), sits on a concrete raft slab and contains 51,000 square feet of office and educational space. At ground level, a double-height, triple-glazed curtainwall with laminated veneer lumber (LVL) mullions connects an interior sheathed entirely in wood to the street outside. The building was designed to showcase the aesthetic and structural capabilities of lumber in commercial construction.