The recently revealed Proto-Model-X building would reach new heights for timber.
Cara Eckholm shares the newly revealed details of a net-zero, timber building that would reach 35 stories if built.
The building, referred to as Proto-Model-X, or PMX, is currently in the "proto-model" stage. A large collection of design and engineering firms worked with Sidewalk Labs to create the design. Eckholm credits Aercoustics, Aspect Structural Engineers, Atelier Ten, CadMakers, Gensler, Integral, JE Dunn Construction, Michael Green Architecture, RDH, Sweco, and Vortex Fire for the current status of the design.
As Eckholm notes in the article, 35 stories has yet to be achieved by a timber building. The proto-model stands as a "digital proof-of-concept" for the idea:
The concept is borrowed from manufacturing, where it’s common to design one perfect “widget” before producing them en masse in a factory. With PMX, our “widget” is a 3D building model rendered in Autodesk’s Revit, a popular building design software, and hosted in BIM 360, a cloud-based tool that stores technical information about the building.
Eckholm's article serves to introduce two explorations of the concept, each with their own article (Exploration 1 and Exploration 2) on the Sidewalk Labs website.
FULL STORY: Introducing PMX: Our model for how tall timber buildings could work in cities

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