By JENNA MITCHELL
Staff Writer
The Mjøstȧrnet tower became the world’s tallest timber building when it opened last year. The structure contains 18 stories of office space and the aptly named wood hotel. Part of a larger group of materials known as mass timber is produced by gluing strips of laminated wood together at 90-degree angles to one another before they’re compressed into huge beams or panels under extreme pressure. The tallest tower of the HoHo Vienna project in Austria reaches up to 276 feet. A slew of new timber high-rises is set to break ground or open in 2020. HoHo Vienna, a mixed-use development just five feet shorter than Mjøstårnet, has just opened for business in Austria. Advocates for mass timber claim that, compared to existing options, these towers are quicker to construct, stronger and, perhaps most surprisingly, safer in the event of a fire.