As featured by PEFC International
SporX is a 40-metre-tall wooden office building, that will soon tower in the centre of Drammen, Norway. The building will have ten floors built in glulam and solid wood, coming from PEFC-certified Norwegian forests.
SporX has high environmental and social sustainability ambitions and will create a green environment and good meeting places for tenants and the local population.
The building’s support structure consists of beams and pillars in glulam, and two large lift and stair cores made of PEFC-certified solid wood, reinforced with glulam columns. Two solid wood walls in the two short facades increase the rigidity of the building.
In total, the project consists of 2000 m3 of solid wood and 500 m3 of glulam, supplied by local sawmills.
Through extensive use of wood and short transport distances, the building has a very low carbon footprint. It will be certified to the highest standard after Breeam-Nor and receive energy class A.
Rapid construction thanks to new technologies
SporX uses a novel approach of building with wood. The design was done with VDC methodology, which means that the project is built digitally before the physical construction starts. The building gets a digital twin that makes it easier in the future to make changes to it.
Splitkon, the first Norwegian producer of solid wood, has been responsible for the delivery and assembly of the raw SporX building in solid wood and glulam. Thanks to precise planning, the construction time for the building was only 15 weeks.
“From our new massive factory, it is an honor to be able to deliver this great building – in our neighborhood,” says Morten L. Johansen, CEO of Splitkon.
A close interaction with main contractor Betonmast and fitter Straye Trebygg has been essential for a successful delivery.
With its beautiful wooden construction elements, the building has lit up against the bright blue winter sky and received a lot of good feedback from both far and wide.
Responsible Wood is the National Governing Body for PEFC Australia. To find more about Responsible Wood and forest certification more generally please visit the Responsible Wood website.
Photo credits: Splitkon