Nation's Tallest Wood Building Coming Soon to Portland

"An 11-story timber high-rise planned in Portland's Pearl District has been approved for construction," reports Elliot Njus, "a milestone for wood technology that could allow for even taller timber buildings."

"At 148 feet, the Framework building will be the nation's first high-rise building made of wood," adds Njus.

As reported in another article by Njus and Molly Harbarger, Portland is pressing for more wood construction to support the region's timber industry.

Other cities around the world, like Toronto, are allowing larger wood framed buildings because they tend to be cheaper than steel framed buildings. High profile examples of timber skyscrapers have been proposed in Paris and Minneapolis. Skepticism toward the building practice can still be found in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, however, which recently took steps to limit the construction of wood framed buildings.