Downtown Milwaukee’s Timber-Based Tower Tops Out

Construction of 25-story Ascent in Milwaukee, the world’s tallest timber-based structure, has topped out, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Ascent, at 700 E. Kilbourn Avenue, stands 284-ft and will offer 259 residential units. General contractor C.D. Smith Construction tells ELEVATOR WORLD that Otis is providing its elevator system. The US$80-million downtown apartment tower was built with a technique known as mass timber or cross-laminated timber, a process using layers of wood pressed together to create columns, beams and other building-frame components. High-rise buildings made from timber provide a lower carbon footprint than conventional construction, and offer attractive, wood-based designed. They’re suitable for residential, office and other types of developments. The project work began in August 2020, and completion is expected sometime in the summer of 2022.