The famous sketch of Lagos Wooden Tower designed by Hermann Kamte, young Cameroonian architect and the founder of Hermann Kamte & Associates (HKA), will introduce green construction to Africa’s largest city.

It was initially designed as a submission for Metsa Wood’s ‘City Above the City’ competition, where participants had to suggest solutions for new housing on top of existing urban buildings using Metsa Wood Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber) as the main material. It proposed the construction of an 87 metre high tower on top of an existing concrete building in Lagos that will hold mixed residential spaces separated by sky gardens and amenities and ventilated by a stylised wooden envelope.
Among its achievements, the project has been shortlisted for the ‘2017 World Architecture Festival Awards’ and it won the 2017 ‘WAFX Prize’ in the cultural identity section.

Using wood products such as Kerto LVL creates the possibility for a fast, light, and green construction. Even though there is a need to build faster, more affordably, and more efficiently, wooden materials account for only a very small fraction of global construction. In order to ensure a successful future for this industry, it is vital that people rethink the advantages of working with wood.

The Lagos project has caught a lot of attention and it highlighted the potential of wood construction in Africa, which can benefit African society at large. Unfortunately, using concrete and bricks is a lot easier and a lot cheaper. As the awareness of timber-based architecture grows, the demand will grow as well and therefore the wooden building solutions will become cheaper and more accessible.

Metsa Wood has opened now a source wood initiative which calls on all architects and engineers to share their innovations in wood construction. The objective of this is to share knowledge and grow the use of this material in the construction industry.