Now it’s official: Styrian company KLH of Katsch an der Mur is going to supply Austrian cross-laminated timber products to the 25-story building “Ascent” in Milwaukee/US. At 86.5 meters high, the residential tower will be higher than Mjøstårnet, which is currently the tallest timber building in the world.
Supplier and partner at the same time
At 86.5 meters high, the residential tower Ascent was originally designed to have 21 stories. As the design progressed, the number of stories has been raised to 25. Now, 19 of them will be built in wood and KLH will ship 31,000 m² of KLH CLT to Milwaukee for the project © Korb + Associates
For the American large-scale project, KLH produces over 1200 KLH CLT elements with an overall area of around 31,000 m² and a prevalent thickness of 180 mm which are going to be shipped and delivered directly to the construction site. But that’s not all: As subsidiary of Austrian company KLH Massivholz, KLH Holding Corp. which has its headquarters in Portland, Oregon will be both supplier and detail planner. 19 of Ascent’s 25 stories are built in wood, while staircases and elevator shafts will be made of reinforced concrete.
Tallest residential timber building in France
The residential complex is around 112 meters long and designed as an ensemble of buildings. Different building heights and facades give the complex a varied exterior © Cécile Septet
The residential complex Sensations, which is around 112 meters long, is designed as an ensemble of buildings with different heights and varied facades. One of the three towers rises up 38 meters with its twelve floors. The other two towers have nine floors and a height of around 27.5 meters, while four-story buildings connect the towers with each other. A five-story building at the end completes the ensemble.
The entire complex is built with KLH CLT which is one of its characteristics. The project in Alsace is the first phase of the “Ilot Bois” program, which means “wooden island”. The aim of this program is to revitalize brownfield sites and turn them into a residential area. Built almost exclusively in wood, Sensations is not only the highest timber building in “Ilot Bois”, but also the tallest building of this kind in France.
Capacities doubled
With the new production site in Bad St. Leonhard, KLH can raise its possible output to 250,000 m³ at full capacity thereby doubling it © KLH
Currently, around 13,000 m³ of KLH CLT are produced each year. Lately, the company built another plant in the small Carinthian town of Bad St. Leonhard in just 15 months and despite the ongoing pandemic. Once both sites are at full capacity, up to 250,000 m³ of KLH CLT can be produced each year which is a doubling of the company’s output. The CNC machines are already in operation, and at the beginning of November, the first panels left the premises. The new cross-laminated timber production line has a high degree of automation as well as high flexibility in the CNC woodworking of one or two sides and is oriented towards plant and raw material efficiency. In addition, there is the possibility to increase prefabrication in the future.
Since the new production site is also equipped with a finishing line, KLH is going to offer its customers products with finished surfaces starting in 2021. Furthermore, the panel format is extended: So far, the company was able to produce elements with a maximum width of 2.95 meters. In Bad St. Leonhard, elements with widths of up to 3.50 meters can be produced. These are suitable for school buildings, kindergartens and other buildings whose ceilings are required to have a certain height.
