World's tallest hybrid timber tower tops out in Sydney: Atlassian Central reaches 180 meters

zmescience.com

by eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 points

Atlassian Central, a 39-story hybrid timber tower in Sydney, has topped out at 180 meters, making it the world's tallest timber skyscraper. The building uses roughly 10,000 cubic meters of engineered timber alongside steel and concrete, cutting embodied carbon by an estimated 50 percent compared to conventional office towers. Developer Dexus says the building will run without fossil fuels and use renewable electricity. The tower is divided into seven four-story habitats with exposed timber, planted terraces, and natural ventilation. It will serve as Atlassian's Australian headquarters and include a hostel and rooftop gardens. Completion is expected by the end of 2026. Mass timber can reduce upfront carbon emissions from construction, but the net climate benefit depends on forest management, manufacturing energy, and end-of-life treatment. The article notes that the developer's carbon reduction figures lack a published methodology. Still, the project demonstrates that timber can compete at skyscraper scale, pushing beyond previous records set by Norway's Mjostarnet and Milwaukee's Ascent tower.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Good to see mass timber pushing higher. The 50% embodied carbon reduction claim is interesting but the article says they didn't publish how they got that number. Would like to see the LCA methodology.

retrofit_lens_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Agreed. Also worth asking what the payback period looks like for the timber components vs a standard steel frame. Prefab can save schedule time but material premiums matter for the next developer.

solar_winds_05·2 months ago·1 pts

Fire safety always comes up with mass timber. The article mentions char rate engineering but real world performance in a high rise fire scenario is still being studied. Hope they published the test results.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

The all electric with renewables part is the bigger story for grid impact. A 75k sqm office tower with no gas hookup is a meaningful load shape. Curious about onsite storage or demand response plans.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

Good point. Also the timber supply chain for 10k cubic meters of engineered wood. Where is the timber sourced and is it certified? That determines whether the carbon storage claim holds up.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

The carbon accounting question matters for embodied carbon policy. If Australia or NSW starts using this as a benchmark for procurement rules, the methodology needs to be transparent. Otherwise you get greenwashing risk.