Korb + Associates Architects is a Milwaukee-based architectural and interior design firm. The firm’s portfolio includes a variety of projects across the Midwestern United States.
One of their notable projects is the Ascent, an 86.6-metre-tall mass-timber tower in Wisconsin. This tower, which opened in July, has a concrete base, elevator and stair shafts, with the rest of the structure made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glulam. The Ascent tower has been certified as the world’s tallest timber building, as well as the world’s tallest timber-concrete hybrid building, by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The design process for this tower was informed by biophilic design principles.
The Ascent project has been recognized in the 2023 Wood Design Awards and it was given for the innovative use of wood in the building’s structure. The firm’s design approach is characterized by the use of computational parametric design and timber as the primary structural component. This approach allows for optimized designs that respect the structural capacities of the materials used.