Hybrid City Challenge

Watch video

​

Benefits of hybrid construction

In construction, efficiency has always been a big challenge.
The speed of ubanization makes it an even bigger one.

We are forced to build at breakneck speed to support the ever-growing need of housing – while keeping expenses low. And then there’s the environment.

Construction alone uses 50% of the world’s resources and causes 30% of all CO2 emissions.

The world needs a Plan B: A Hybrid City.

We are dedicated to finding ways to use more wood without disrupting the construction process. So that nothing has to change but the material. Together, we can make concrete, steel and wood work as one.

Hybrid City Challenge

See the winners

Read more

​

Sustainability that fits current ways of building

All construction materials have their benefits. But wood is the only material that stores carbon. We need to use more of it.

This doesn’t mean we have to change everything. In fact, projects can be made more ecological by simply adding wood to the equation. Not 100%, but maybe 10%, 20%, 30% – or even more.

We need to find ways to support construction companies to use more wood, while maintaining their efficiency. By creating sustainable building elements, that fit the way they construct today, we can help them build better cities, hybrid cities.

  • Hybrid City Challenge

  • Hybrid City Challenge

  • Hybrid City Challenge
​

Hybrid City Challenge winners

Hybrid City Challenge winners 
 

The results offer solutions to improve both sustainability and efficiency

The competition organised by Metsä Wood and Open Source Wood called for ways to make construction more sustainable, while maintaining efficiency using current building methods. The answer lies in hybrid construction: modular construction practically combining wood and other construction materials. The Hybrid City Challenge gathered some 40 ideas from 22 countries. 



​

​

​

Case: D(emountable) – hybrid structure with steel frame and wooden elements

  • D(emountable)

  • D(emountable)

  • D(emountable)

​Pictures copyright: cepezed | Lucas van der Wee

​

Building D(emountable) in Delft is a four-storey office building that has a hybrid structure combining a steel frame with wooden elements. The building project was fast: it took just a few months from the drawing board to a finalized building, and the load-bearing structure was put together in only three weeks.

 

Read the full reference case