Mjøstårnet

Standing 85,4 meters tall, Mjøstårnet is the world’s tallest timber building. It is located in the small town of Brumunddal, which is a short drive north of the Norwegian capital, Oslo. Mjøstårnet translates as “the tower of lake Mjøsa”.

The 18-storey-high wooden building opened in March 2019 and has a combined floor area of around 11,300 square meters. Mjøstårnet offers a hotel, apartments, offices, a restaurant and common areas, as well as a swimming hall in the adjacent first-floor extension. This is about 4700 square meters in size and also built in wood.

You can book a hotel room or meeting room in Mjøstårnet by contacting Wood Hotel.

AB Invest AS was the client, and Hent AS was turnkey contractor. Voll Arkitekter AS has designed the building. Moelven Limtre AS was turnkey subcontractor for structural timber.

Moelven Limtre supplied glulam columns, beams and diagonals, CLT elevator shafts and stairwells, as well as Trä8 floor slabs for the tower building and swimming hall in the project. The Trä8 concept was developed by Moelven Töreboda AB in Sweden. Moelven was responsible for the installation of all wooden structures. The consulting company Sweco performed structural design for Moelven.

Groundwork started in April 2017 and the first timber construction took place in September the same year.

The building was assembled four storeys at a time, with a total of five construction stages. Mjøstårnet was built without external scaffolding. Instead, the project used a large crane and internal scaffolding combined with lifts.

First, the glulam structure was assembled on the ground next to the building, before being hoisted up and in. Then the floor slabs were hoisted into place. Ringsaker Takelementer AS installed the external façade, before Moelven proceeded with assembly upwards. The building was completed in March 2019.

Hent AS's contract was valued at about NOK 450 million excluding VAT. For Moelven Limtre, the contract with Hent AS was about NOK 50 million, excluding VAT, making it one of their largest contracts ever.

Glued laminated timber, commonly abbreviated glulam, is a type of structural engineered wood product constituted by layers of dimensional lumber (lamellae) bonded together with durable, moisture-resistant structural adhesives. The lamellae are planed and glued on the faces; with the grain laying parallel to layers above and below. The individual lamella is selected and positioned according to defects and grain structure to maximize structural integrity. Glulam is a versatile structural product that can be made for straight, cambered and bent/arch applications, and other arrangements. It is available in standard dimensional and custom sizes. 

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is when layers of timber, known as lamellae, are glued together with the grain alternating at 90 degree angles for each layer. This leads to large scale plates that can be used for structural purposes. Glulam is when laminates are glued together by layering them with the grain, which produces larger and longer length members for beams, columns and diagonals.

There are many reasons to turn to wood as a preferred building material. When trees are growing, CO2 is transformed into biomass through photosynthesis. As wood stores carbon throughout its life cycle, it is environmentally responsible. The glulam production process requires little energy, whereas the production of man-made materials requires considerable amounts of fossil fuels and harmful emissions. Tall buildings with load-bearing structures in glulam therefore have a very low carbon footprint.

Wood is the only renewable building material we have. It can be can be reused and recycled and the use of it contributes to counteract the greenhouse effect. Wood is the strongest building material in relation to weight and it has good durability when used correctly.

Wood also contributes to a healthy indoor climate. It regulates humidity and temperature, it has good acoustic and insulating properties and contributes to a harmonious experience. Research also shows it can help reduce stress.