Construction of Tree Tower
The structure of the tower consists of an outer ring made of 12 vertical glulam beams. They are arranged with rotational symmetry and set up with an angle difference of 30° each, thus forming a polygonal, spatial structure.
The columns are supported by means of steel girders on single foundations. The tree tower is stabilized by a close-meshed net of diagonal steel members as well as horizontal ring structures.
The upper third of the tower was fitted with 12 glulam arcs to make it look like an eyrie. The arcs are fastened to the cantilevered steel platform at the top and to the glulam columns at the bottom. The outer diameter of the timber tower is approximately 24 m (79 ft); in the area of the "eyrie" it is about 36 m (118 ft).
Connected to the observation tower is a walkable treetop path with a length of 1,250 m (1,367 yards) that winds through the treetops at a height of 4 m to 17 m (13 to 56 ft). The path is also the entrance to the tower. In order to reach the viewing platform at the top of the tower, visitors have to enter the spiral structure with a length of 600 m (656 yards) inside the tower.
The platform consists of steel cantilevers protruding outwards that connect to the timber columns, and between them, longitudinal timber beams with planking.
| Structural Engineering | Structural Engineering and Construction of Timber Tower WIEHAG GmbH Altheim, Austria www.wiehag.com Structural Engineering Office Ing.-Büro Wolf GmbH, Passau, Germany |
| Architect | Architect Josef Stöger, Schönberg, Germany stoeger-koelbl.de |
| Client | Erlebnis-Akademie AG, Bad Kötzing, Germany www.eak-ag.de |
