Eco-friendly wooden building draws attention at university in Tokyo

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:43 JST, July 4, 2022

A new wooden building at Sophia University’s Yotsuya campus in Tokyo was recently completed and opened to the media. The building is part of the university’s decarbonization efforts. The constructors, Sumitomo Forestry Co., say it is a rare example of a wooden construction within a main university campus in central Tokyo.

The new three-story building is designed to attract the attention of people passing the structure. Crisscrossed timbers cover the entire facility, with a cafe on the first floor. Four classrooms are available on the second and third floors that can accommodate 40 to 50 people. The classrooms will be used mainly to provide lectures for companies and their workers.

The lumber is made of domestically sourced cedar and larch. According to the company, carbon dioxide emissions produced during the construction process could be reduced by about 20% compared to the emissions when using reinforced concrete.

A person in charge of the company said, “We would like to promote the further use of wood construction at urban universities.”