World's highest wooden building is taller than even designed

The construction that is now considered the world's tallest timber building turned out to be 4m. higher than it was designed.

The building is located in Brumunddal, 10 km north of Oslo in Norway. Its construction was completed on 4^th of September. The so-called "Mjøstårnet",will have a combined floor area of around 11,300 square meters, 18 stores and will include apartments, a hotel, offices, restaurants and common areas. In addition there will be a swimming hall about 4,700 square meters in size. It was developed by Moelven, a Norwegian wooden fabrication specialist.

After consulting the contractor HENT and the structural engineer Sweco, the director of the company, Rune Abrahamsen decided to add a 4.4m pergola to the building in order to increase its height from 81 to 85.4m. According to Abrahamsen, the attempt was made possible by rounding the beams making them less wind-resistant. "The winds on the top of the building are being held in check by the foundation of the building, which must match. By rounding the edges of the beams, we got the construction to 85.4 meters. The principle is known from flag rods," he said.

The competition to construct the world's tallest wooden building has increased rapidly in the past few years. Therefore, it is likely that new wooden buildings will claim the record soon.