Melbourne is set to get its first timber commercial office building.

The wood engineered structure with an end value of $56 million will join Australia’s first multi-storey timber apartment tower and a landmark wooden public library in the Docklands urban renewal precinct which has become a focal point for sustainable buildings.

Sydney-based developer AsheMorgan has launched a leasing campaign for tenants to occupy a multi-storey office which will straddle an existing two level concrete building in The District, a shopping centre next to Footscray Road best known as the location of Melbourne’s Star Skywheel.

AsheMorgan's new timber office building planned for Docklands. Credit:AsheMorgan

About two thirds of the new structure will be made from cross laminated timber (CLT), an engineered product made from layers of softwood arranged crosswise and glued together under pressure into large panels.