Something as simple as wood is set to revolutionize the way we construct buildings.

In relation to conventional materials such as steel and concrete, wood serves as a more sustainable material because it has a lower carbon footprint. So far the real struggle has been how to build tall structures in the range of skyscrapers. This year an apartment building of ten stories has been completed in Melbourne, but this is the tallest wooden structure yet.

This is all set to change, mainly due to one of the big companies in traditional building materials. Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is a firm that has quite a reputation in the architectural world. They have now used this strength to develop structural system which uses something called mass timber. This design is made of columns and thick slabs that are laminated from smaller pieces of wood that could be used to build a 42-story residential tower.

This is the most dramatic change the construction industry has seen in a hundred years. Click here if you want to read more about mass timber.