Build an Entire City with Wood

用木头建造城市

There is a global race to build the tallest wooden skyscraper. The record was held by Mjostarnet， a tower of 85.4 metres in Norway—until Ascent， an structure of 86.6 metres， was completed in Wisconsin， US in July 2022. And it will be put in the shade in turn by other buildings: a 90 metre tower is planned for Canada， and a 100 metre one for Switzerland.

全球都在竞相建造最高的木制摩天大楼。在挪威，85.4米高的Mjostarnet大楼曾保持着最高纪录。直到2022年7月，在美国威斯康星州竣工的Ascent大楼以86.6米的高度打破了这一纪录。而这一纪录仍将被不断打破：加拿大计划建造一座90米高的大楼，瑞士计划建造一座100米高的大楼。

A Swedish firm announced their plans to build the world’s biggest wooden city. Stockholm Wood City will be built in Sickla， an area in the south of the Swedish capital. Construction on the 250，000 square-metre site will begin in 2025. The completed wooden city will be able to have 2，000 homes， 7，000 offices and several restaurants and shops. The around $1.4 billion project was led by Atrium Ljungberg， a Swedish urban development company.

一家瑞典公司公布了建造世界上最大木制城市的计划。斯德哥尔摩木之城将在瑞典首都南部的西克拉地区开工。这座占地25万平方米的城市将于2025年开始建设。建成之后的木之城将拥有2000套住房、7000间办公室以及若干餐厅和商店。这个耗资约14亿美元的项目由瑞典城市开发公司 Atrium Ljungberg牵头实施。

By using wood the company hopes to reduce the project’s carbon footprint by up to 40%， compared with building in concrete and steel， says Annica Anas， the company’s boss. Wood is a sustainable material that can be produced from renewable forests， which Sweden has in plenty.

公司老板安妮卡·安内斯表示，与混凝土和钢铁建筑相比，公司希望通过使用木材将该项目的碳足迹减少至40%。木材是一种可持续材料，可以从可再生森林中生产，而瑞典有大量的可再生森林。

The Swedish project will， as existing wooden skyscrapers do， employ large prefabricated sections made from what is called “engineered timber”. Instead of ordinary timber， engineered timber is a composite in which layers of wood are laminated together in specific ways. The wood grains in each layer arranged neatly to provide individual components of the building， such as floors， walls and beams， with extremely high levels of strength.

瑞典的这个项目将像现有的木制摩天大楼一样，采用由所谓的“工程木材”制成的大型预制部件。与普通木材不同，工程木材是一种复合材料，其中木材层以特定的方式压合在一起。每一层的木纹都排列整齐，为建筑的各个部分（如地板、墙壁和横梁）提供极高的强度。

Another advantage is that the construction of wooden buildings will not be as noisy as it would be if the town were built from concrete and bricks， adds Ms Anas. This makes wooden buildings particularly suitable for urban redevelopment in general， since putting them up is less likely to annoy the neighbors.

安内斯女士补充道，另一个优点是，木制大楼建造过程不会像用混凝土和砖块建造那般发出嘈杂之声。这使得木制建筑特别适合城市重建，因为建造过程不太可能惹恼邻居。

The biggest concern most people have about wooden buildings is the risk of fire. The buildings in Wood City will be fitted with several fire-protection systems， such as sprinklers and flame-resistant layers， as would also be found on their concrete or brick counterparts.

对于木制建筑，人们最大的担忧是火灾风险。木之城的建筑会像混凝土或砖砌建筑一样配备多重防火系统，比如喷淋装置和防火层。

At the same time， researchers are coming to believe that engineered timber is， by its nature， extremely fire resistant. To help win approval for the construction of the Ascent building， the US Forest Service carried out tests on the laminated timber columns it would use. After finding them difficult to burn， the columns were awarded the three-hour fire-resistance grade material because they maintained their structural integrity.

与此同时，研究人员逐渐相信，工程木材就其本质而言是非常耐火的。为了获得Ascent大楼的建造批文，美国林务局对将要使用的层压木柱进行了测试。测试结果显示，它们难以燃烧，因为它们能够保持结构的完整性，所以认定其为三小时耐火等级材料。

Word Bank

composite /'kɒmpəzɪt/ n. 复合材料；合成物

grain /ɡreɪn/ n. 纹理；质地

component /kəm'pəʊnənt/ n. 组成部分

integrity /ɪn'teɡrəti/ n. 完整