Sidewalk Labs are owned by Alphabet, the same organisation that owns a familiar company called Google. They combine forward thinking-urban design and cutting-edge technology to radically improve urban life around the world. They're planning to build a city out of timber as part of their Quayside development in Toronto, to get the carbon sequestration benefits and fast build times possible with timber.

 

Karim Khalifa is the Director of Building Innovations at Sidewalk Labs, today we speak to him about the timber buildings they're looking at - including a 35 storey proposed timber tower, how Alphabet engineers can assist in construction and about innovative fire design approaches.

 

To find out more about Side Walk Labs, head to:

https://www.sidewalklabs.com/

 

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

 

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides

 

Episode artwork by Sidewalk Labs