Wood In Architecture Issue 1, 2018

NEWS
JAPANESE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
DEBUTS FIREPROOF WOODEN PILLAR,
DRIVES ADVENT OF WOODEN HIGH-RISES
Japanese construcon company has
developed a wooden pillar capable of
withstanding re for three hours without
burning down.
Shelter Co.’s invention will allow
future wooden buildings to be largerscaled,
scoring one for high-rise wood
construcon.
“Japan has a tradition of wooden
buildings, such as Shinto shrines and
Buddhist temples, that are unparalleled
in the world,” Shelter President
Kazuyoshi Kimura said in an interview
with Asahi Shimbun. “We would also
be able to pursue urban planning
with wooden buildings even when
it comes to modern architecture,
where fire resistance and safety are
required.”
The pillar is a three-ply structure
made of plasterboards covered with
a rectangular wooden pillar. The
plasterboards, in turn, are wrapped with
yet another layer of wood.
When tested in a furnace, the
wooden cover as well as wet plaster
kept the interior rectangular pillar safe.
There were no burn marks on it even
aer being exposed to temperatures up
to 1,000 degrees Celsius for 12 hours.
Shelter originally patented their
invenon in 2009, and produced wooden
products that could be used as pillars,
walls or other building components
capable of resisng re for an hour in
2013, followed by more products that
could withstand ames for two hours
in 2015.
The company has aained approval
from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism to apply the
technology in structures reaching over
15 storeys. | WIA
A rendering of
the pillar, where a
rectangular wooden
pillar is covered by
plasterboards, which
are, in turn, wrapped
in yet another layer
of wood.
Image credit:
Shelter Co.
WOOD IN ARCHITECTURE • ISSUE 1 • 2018
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