Stora Enso Oyj
Stora Enso Oyj
03/24/2023 | News release | Distributed by Public on 03/24/2023 03:45
First wood elements installed in Stora Enso’s new head office
Published 24 March 2023
There is no comparable wooden frame anywhere else in the world. The first mass timber elements have been installed in Katajanokka, Helsinki. The building will be a landmark object for sustainable and climate smart construction and is to be built with Stora Enso's Sylva™ components. It will be completed in the summer of 2024.
The building will be built with newly launched Sylva™ by Stora Enso. Sylva is a massive wood building kit comprising pre-manufactured, custom-made products delivered just-in-time (JIT) to the building site. The load-bearing column and beam frame is in laminated veneer lumber (LVL) delivered from Varkaus mill. The walls, floors, roofs, and stairs are made of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and come from the company's Gruvön mill in Sweden. The wooden building will be finished with a façade that will be constructed predominantly of glass; the load-bearing structure of the prefabricated façade elements are also produced in Varkaus.
The site of the Katajanokan Laituri on the shore of Katajanokka in Helsinki, the construction project has been underway for the past year. Demolition and excavation work have been carried out for months and the project has now reached the stage where the first massive wood elements are being installed on-site .
"The building is a landmark of modern use of wood in low-carbon construction. This building pushes the boundaries and shows what is possible to create with wood as a climate-friendly construction material. It is designed to last at least 100 years and will store carbon for the lifetime of the building and its wooden structures. We are very excited to take these modern office premises into use after the building is finished in the summer of 2024," says Seppo Parvi, CFO and Country Manager, Finland for Stora Enso.
The building will house Stora Enso's head office, a high-quality Solo Sokos Hotel, Pier 4 Hotel andopen spaces for the city's residents, including a café, restaurant and conference facilities.
"The wooden structures are a key element of the building's architecture and its identity. Katajanokan Laituri is an important landmark and forerunner for the range of possibilities of timber construction in urban environments. Through unique projects like this we can strengthen our customer offering as well as our leading position within renewable construction materials," says Antto Kauhanen, Development Manager at Stora Enso.
The finished timber structures of the Katajanokan Laituri will contain approximately 7 600 m³ of massive wood supplied by Stora Enso, of which 6 000 m³ will be CLT and 1 600 m³ will be LVL. The timber in this spectacular building will sequester up to 5 865 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂), equivalent to the average annual emissions of about 3 500 passenger cars.
One of the aims of the project is to minimise the climate impact of the building during its lifecycle. Once completed, the building will apply the LEED Platinum environmental certification, which takes a broad sustainability perspective into account.
The prefabricated Sylva CLT and LVL Walls, Floors and Roofs used in this project have an enormous load-bearing capacity. They also have a faster construction time and a much lower number of frame-related work steps on site compared to concrete. The light-weight Sylva products further reduces the number of required deliveries significantly resulting in fewer emissions on-site and in the busy urban area of Helsinki.
Wood construction also improves building site safety, as the elements are delivered with millimeter precision, JIT to the building site, ready to be assembled. There is no excess waste on site. The installation of the elements is quick, easy, low dust and relatively quiet.
The use of timber makes the Katajanokan Laituri a significant and long-lasting carbon store for its entire lifecycle, which is only possible through the extensive use of massive wood as a load-bearing structure.
The Katajanokan Laituri, developed and owned by, pension company, Varma, is being built in cooperation with Haahtela, as the project management consultant. The building has been designed by Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit Oy. Puurakentajat Rakennus Oy, which specialises in massive wood construction, is the contractor responsible for the wooden frame of the project.
The site of the Katajanokan Laituri on the shore of Katajanokka in Helsinki, the construction project has been underway for the past year. Demolition and excavation work have been carried out for months and the project has now reached the stage where the first massive wood elements are being installed on-site .
"The building is a landmark of modern use of wood in low-carbon construction. This building pushes the boundaries and shows what is possible to create with wood as a climate-friendly construction material. It is designed to last at least 100 years and will store carbon for the lifetime of the building and its wooden structures. We are very excited to take these modern office premises into use after the building is finished in the summer of 2024," says Seppo Parvi, CFO and Country Manager, Finland for Stora Enso.
The building will house Stora Enso's head office, a high-quality Solo Sokos Hotel, Pier 4 Hotel andopen spaces for the city's residents, including a café, restaurant and conference facilities.
"The wooden structures are a key element of the building's architecture and its identity. Katajanokan Laituri is an important landmark and forerunner for the range of possibilities of timber construction in urban environments. Through unique projects like this we can strengthen our customer offering as well as our leading position within renewable construction materials," says Antto Kauhanen, Development Manager at Stora Enso.
The finished timber structures of the Katajanokan Laituri will contain approximately 7 600 m³ of massive wood supplied by Stora Enso, of which 6 000 m³ will be CLT and 1 600 m³ will be LVL. The timber in this spectacular building will sequester up to 5 865 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂), equivalent to the average annual emissions of about 3 500 passenger cars.
One of the aims of the project is to minimise the climate impact of the building during its lifecycle. Once completed, the building will apply the LEED Platinum environmental certification, which takes a broad sustainability perspective into account.
The prefabricated Sylva CLT and LVL Walls, Floors and Roofs used in this project have an enormous load-bearing capacity. They also have a faster construction time and a much lower number of frame-related work steps on site compared to concrete. The light-weight Sylva products further reduces the number of required deliveries significantly resulting in fewer emissions on-site and in the busy urban area of Helsinki.
Wood construction also improves building site safety, as the elements are delivered with millimeter precision, JIT to the building site, ready to be assembled. There is no excess waste on site. The installation of the elements is quick, easy, low dust and relatively quiet.
The use of timber makes the Katajanokan Laituri a significant and long-lasting carbon store for its entire lifecycle, which is only possible through the extensive use of massive wood as a load-bearing structure.
The Katajanokan Laituri, developed and owned by, pension company, Varma, is being built in cooperation with Haahtela, as the project management consultant. The building has been designed by Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit Oy. Puurakentajat Rakennus Oy, which specialises in massive wood construction, is the contractor responsible for the wooden frame of the project.