Ten Points for Timber on Top
Densification through upward extensions with a minimal carbon footprint.
Spaces and cities that people enjoy are much more likely to last. It is easier to decide to demolish buildings and neighbourhoods that are not very popular, but demolishing structures that have already been built is far from climate-friendly. Generally speaking, about a ton of material is used per square metre built, and that waste of resources is unsustainable. Urban planning of the future will increasingly involve conversions and extensions either outwards or upwards, with a decline in traditional newbuilds.
Wood is light. Wood is flexible. Wood is attractive. Wood is ideal for upward extensions! This Timber on Top approach has the potential to be a sustainable tool in our transition to a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 – a concrete way to contribute to the European Green Deal.
Increasingly, new phases of development in the built environment will be formed on Top, and we are convinced that the art of utilising what is already built will become the norm.
Timber on Top is an opportunity for everyone who wants to offer good living environments with the least possible use of the Earth’s resources. In Sweden and the rest of the world, there is a rapidly dawning realisation that the construction sector needs to switch to a circular economy, and using what has already been built is probably the most effective way to promote the necessary circularity. The Swedish urban planning sector could be at the forefront of this.
In this document, we present ten key arguments – Ten Points for Timber on Top.