Shigeru Ban Architects unveil plans for the world’s tallest hybrid timber building

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban just unveiled plans for the world’s tallest timber hybrid high-rise, the Terrace House. Slated for Vancouver’s Coal Harbour neighborhood, the angular structure will have multiple tiers of abundant greenery rising up through a latticework frame made out of locally-sourced timber.

According to the design description, “meticulously engineered timber” will be used to create the building’s latticework frame, which will be interspersed with an abundance of greenery rising up from the ground floor. The proposed design will create not only the world’s largest timber hybrid structure, but will be a luminous icon for Vancouver’s growing cityscape. Ban’s proposed design will hold court right next to the city’s famed Evergreen Building, designed by late architect Arthur Erickson.

The stunning project, which will be led by Vancouver-based developer PortLiving, was carefully crafted by Ban to stand out for its cutting-edge design without taking away from the existing architecture, “We have brought together the best of the best – a team of true experts in creative collaboration, working together for the first time ever on a single project. The result is truly a once-in-a-lifetime project setting new standards in design and construction,” said Macario Reyes, founder and CEO of PortLiving. “Every detail has been considered right down to the specific foliage on the terraces. It only made sense to bring on Cornelia Oberlander to continue her vision and create continuity between the Evergreen Building by Arthur Erickson and Terrace House by Shigeru Ban.”

Although Ban’s design is sure to be a stellar icon of timber architecture, it won’t be the city’s only wooden wonder; the world’s current tallest timber building, Brock Commons, was completed in Vancouver just last year.