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For many years, wood-frame construction has been providing the world with high-quality, affordable housing. This goes from town houses to multi-storey apartment buildings, and from single-family bungalows to large luxury houses. Wood frame houses are economical to build, heat and cool, and provide maximum comfort to occupants. Wood shells are approximately 1/2 of the cost of a comparable concrete shell. Wood construction is easily adapted to traditional, contemporary and most futuristic building styles. Its architectural possibilities are limitless. |
Longevity
Perhaps the most famous ancient European wood buildings still in evidence today are the Norwegian stave churches, hundreds of which were built in the 12th and 13th centuries and of which 25-30 still remain today
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There's no reason a wood structure can't last virtually forever - or, at least hundreds of years, far longer than we may actually need the building. With a good understanding of how to protect wood from decay and fire, we can expect today's wood buildings to be around for as long as we wish. While wood does not have the historical longevity of stone, there nonetheless remain standing some very old wood buildings. In Europe, wood was long a dominant building material dating back to the beginning of civilization. Most of these ancient buildings are long gone, lost to fire, decay, or deconstruction for another purpose. In the early days of wood construction, the primary structural components were placed directly in the ground, which eventually leads to decay. It was not until sometime in the 1100s that builders began to use stone footings - thus our still-standing examples of wood buildings generally date from no earlier than that time. Perhaps the most famous ancient European wood buildings still in evidence today are the Norwegian stave churches, hundreds of which were built in the 12th and 13th centuries and of which 25-30 still remain today. Their exterior claddings have typically been replaced, but the structural wood is original. In North America, the abundance of wood and the existing timber skills of early settlers led to widespread use of wood - wood has always been and still is the primary structural material for small buildings here. The oldest surviving wood homes in the US date to the early 1600s. Nearly 80 homes remain from this era in the New England states. Japan has a well-known history of wood use and is the home of the oldest surviving wood structure in the world, a Buddhist temple near the ancient capital city of Nara. The Horyu-ji temple is believed to have been built at the beginning of the eighth century (c. 711) and possibly even earlier, as one of the hinoki (Japanese cypress) posts appears to have been felled in the year 594. This temple's longevity is largely helped by careful maintenance and repair. This entire region of Japan has many other ancient wood buildings still standing. |
