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@bodsbods9090 How so?
The Wood Innovation Design Center in Prince George, (which was the tallest wood building in North America at the time of its completion in 2016) features Shu Sugi Ban exterior façade panels. They have, for the most part, not held up very well. Especially on the South side of the building, the charcoal has flaked off on quite a few panels, leaving the building looking rather aged. That said, I heard that due to time and financial constraints the GC ended up performing the burning of the panels onsite in a rushed, non-traditional manner with a blow torch (this is purely word of mouth). I suppose the panels would have likely faired better had they been done correctly. I think at this point I could see the panels needing to be replaced in the next 5-10 years. Honestly though, it's a great look IMO. Would love to see more of it, albeit perhaps in less harsh conditions - sheltered and/or smaller scale applications.@archited A local architect was doing some experiments with carbonized wood, similar in concept to Shou Sugi Ban but I think with a slightly different technique employed. I think he was using it more for architectural rather than structural purposes, but I'm curious how it's holding up.
I made the following post (below) on Reddit in response to someone questioning the safety of mass timber in the context of fire resistance - it basically echos your comment. Stringent fire ratings are achievable with mass timber, and they can certainly be as safe as steel structures, if detailed correctly.https://resources.impactfireservices.com/workplace-fire-safety-complete-plan-protecting-lives-assets/?hsCtaTracking=43f79f86-7c87-4c0e-b750-f4b23573d716|2fdcc84c-4bdb-4df0-b0d0-3d8fe7062c46 -- As you can see from this review, most office fires (like home fires) start in a kitchen, typically not from smokers who are now often banned to outdoor areas. Mass-Timber structures are actually more fire resistive than steel structures from a structural integrity point of view and that is why their use is being re-upped. Surface burning on wood timbers creates a charcoal barrier to further burning damage, allowing more time for people to evacuate in a serious fire. Some places -- Sweden for example -- allow for even higher structures than 12 floors. Of course there is the limitation of structural capacity that reins in unlimited height. New research is producing wood products that are even stronger than steel, so the future is potentially wooden