Shigeru Ban unveils plans for world's tallest timber hybrid structure

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban is designing a residential tower in Canada tipped to be the largest timber hybrid structure in the world.

The building, which will feature a timber frame supported by a concrete and steel core, will be built along the waterfront in central Vancouver. Further details of the build are due out later this year, but a rendering reveals a glass-clad structure with an elegant, sloped roof.

Architectural Digest says the bold build is on course to "set a new standard" in luxury urban design, sustainability and engineering innovation.

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Developers are keen to highlight the building's environmental credentials. "Timber has been gaining popularity as a building material for high-rises, with proponents emphasising its lightness and sustainability as well as its ability to reduce carbon emissions," says the magazine.

The timber will also be sourced locally from British Columbia in order to further minimise the carbon footprint.

Ban, who is well known for his work with wood and cardboard, was named the winner of the 2014 Pritzker prize, the highest accolade in architecture. He now splits his time between his offices in Tokyo, Paris and New York.

He has also made a name for himself through his humanitarian work, building creative structures in disaster zones around the world, including a temporary cathedral in earthquake-hit New Zealand.

"Receiving this prize is a great honour and with it, I must be careful," he told The Guardian after winning the award. "I must continue to listen to the people I work for, in my private residential commissions and in my disaster relief work.

"I see this prize as encouragement for me to keep doing what I am doing – not to change what I am doing, but to grow."