SAFE HOUSING FOR THE VULNERABLE SHAPE HIDES TECHNOLOGY AND ENHANCES MEETINGS PRECISE DETAILS IN STUDIO FOR TWO
trä meets Roberto Crocetti knowledge
Designing for demountability
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22 » Wood tailored to its place
Stora Enso’s new headquarters in Finland aim to showcase the path to sustainability and openness through the structure itself. The building has already become a landmark on the quayside of Helsinki’s South Harbour.
30 » Flexible offices with a small footprint
Google’s new office in the United States is intended to serve as a prototype for the sustainable office of the future. Designed around the needs of employees, the building is highly flexible and has a very low carbon footprint.
46 » Studio with attention to detail
Care has been taken to ensure both the precise dimensions of the façade’s cladding and the way the line of windows is integrated into the frame, when building a studio for a couple keen on craftsmanship.
Warm and safe for vulnerable women
A safe place in a supportive environment. This was the brief for a new centre for homeless women in Spain. To create the right soft atmosphere, the centre has a timber frame and, in addition to sleeping areas, several communal spaces with plenty of natural light.
Noted » Three volumes » Roof connects museums » Sloping walls » Mini village in the archipelago » House with social function » Stand with backdrop » Sphere showcases research » Newly clad barn » Chiselled façade
Chronicles » Malin Belfrage
The Photo » Geometric chapel
Interior » Wood meets earth
Knowledge » Methodology for demountability
Trä meets » Roberto Crocetti
History » Charred wood
Good read » Architecture follows climate
Publisher Arbio AB
Responsible publisher Anna Ryberg Ågren
Project manager Alexander Nyberg
Editorial team Alexander Nyberg (Swedish Wood), David Valldeby (Utopi)
Anna Ryberg Ågren Director, Swedish Wood
Collaboration and dialogue for a circular future
onsala, sweden 2024 was a tough year for construction. In January, it was announced that Serneke Sweden was going bankrupt. And they were not alone. According to work-related news outlet Arbetet, over 2,000 construction companies folded during the year, the highest number in 30 years. Boverket’s latest forecast predicts that housing construction bottomed out in 2024 and may now increase slightly in 2025.
For the Swedish sawmill industry, the tough situation resulted in the lowest deliveries to the domestic market in 20 years. However, exports ensured that total production for the year came in at the same level as in 2023. Wherever in the world Swedish wood products end up, they create climate benefit on several fronts.
I hope that Boverket’s forecast is correct and housebuilding gains new momentum this year, and that our Swedish wood products will play an even greater role in transforming our domestic construction industry. What worries me is that the Swedish sawmills’ ability to contribute climate benefits risks being curbed if access to the raw material is restricted.
Raw material supplies are already under pressure, and many sawmills are now investing in advanced technologies that allow them to optimise yields from every log. The more wood can be produced, the more fossil fuel-intensive alternatives can be replaced. One of the fundamental problems in today’s forestry debate is that this substitution effect is not taken into account when looking at the benefits that forests deliver.
The way Sweden chooses to implement eu initiatives such as LuLuCF and the Nature Restoration Act risks putting the raw material situation under even more strain, and will thus be crucial to how Swedish wood products can support the green transition.
Swedish Wood disseminates knowledge about wood, wood products and wood in construction, contributing towards a sustainable society and a thriving sawmill industry. We achieve this by inspiring, educating and driving technical advances.
Swedish Wood represents the Swedish sawmill industry and is part of the Swedish Forest Industries Federation. Swedish Wood represents the Swedish glulam, CLT and packaging industries, and collaborates closely with Swedish builders’ merchants and wholesalers of wood products.
Editorial board Mikael Andersson (Wingårdhs), Carmen Izquierdo (Esencial), Ivana Kildsgaard (Tengbom), Elzbieta Lukaszewska (Afry)
Editor & art director David Valldeby, Utopi
Text editing Johanna Lundeberg, Ordaglad
Cover Katajanokan laituri in Helsinki, Finland by Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit. Photo Kalle Kouhia.
Advertising Jon Öst, Annonskraft, tel +46 707-627 682, jon.ost@annonskraft.se
Repro Italgraf Media Printing Trydells
Paper Cover Arctic silk 150g, insert Arctic matt 100g
Print run 25,200 ex
ISSN-number 2001-2322
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Go to swedishwood.com, select Publications/ Wood Magazine/Subscribe for free and enter your details. The magazine comes out four times a year.
What gives me hope is that the government has established a special council for the forest industry value chain, as a way to strengthen dialogue and collaboration on one of Sweden’s most vital industries for the future. Stronger cooperation is crucial for Sweden to lead the world away from fossil dependence towards a circular bioeconomy. I believe in the power of cooperation and dialogue and hope that common sense will ultimately prevail.
It is not just nature that is starting afresh. Starting with the next issue, the magazine you have in your hand will also be relaunched in a new format, with a unifying theme for each issue. The first theme is, appropriately enough, transformation. I look forward to hearing what you think about it!
José Hevia
Anna Ryberg Ågren
Offset according to function
Stranne & Henriksson
orust, sweden Beautiful sea views, salty air and strong north-east winds have left their mark on this West Coast site. And the contrast between these is the starting point for the design of the building, with its three staggered but parallel volumes that create both spatial definition and sheltered places.
The deck sits in the house’s embrace at the front, providing access to both evening sun and greenery, while the generous glazing offers good contact through the house and towards the fjord. The cladding and board-on-board roof will allow
the house to harmonise with the natural beauty of the site as it silvers year by year.
Resting on 28 cast-in-place plinths, with a brick basement, the villa has a frame of glulam beams and pre-cut timber joists, complemented by two steel beams. Materials are used sparingly throughout the building and are mainly natural, with wood finishes and wood fibre-based insulation. Varying ceiling heights and carefully placed views create a sense of both openness and enclosure, with rooms unfolding bit by bit to welcome the visitor.« w| stamarkitekter.se
James Silverman
object Villa U architect Sarah Ulvås, Stam arkitekter
The three offset volumes create nooks and sheltered outdoor spaces in the windy West Coast climate.
Shared roof connects museums
toyota, japan A new city museum has been subtly added next to Toyota’s large art museum. In a small green space, the two are integrated with each other to create a coherent cultural space. The buildings, of differing heights, are linked by an intermediate hall, whose space creates a bridge between the two different museums, thus enhancing accessibility and providing a sense of continuity for visitors to both parts.
Shigeru Ban
The intermediate hall occupies a fifth of the area and also showcases the importance of sustainable building practices. Exposed tapering columns and a gridshell roof create a warm and welcoming feel. Both the columns and the roof are built using locally-grown western red cedar, and this is the first museum in Japan to be certified as a Net zero energy building. The new part of the museum is also designed to function as a crisis centre in the event of a disaster, meeting both cultural and practical needs.« w| shigerubanarchitects.com
Nine-metre roof ridge with lye-washed and painted surfaces in different colours
sweden On a former summer cottage site, a stone’s throw from the beach, a large pitched roof sits atop a long, narrow villa. Under the roof – nine metres to the ridge – a cohesive flow is created over three floors, with views of the plot’s gnarled pine trees. Overlooking the long terrace on the south side, a gallery extends along the upper floor, linking the bedrooms with a playroom and a study.
The aim was to make the
house out of as much wood as possible, while exploring the possibilities of using exposed CLT in the floors, walls and ceilings. The foundation is a floating slab, but using a CLT sheet instead of concrete. The exterior and interior walls are made of CLT, and the surfaces are lye-washed, uV-treated or painted with linseed oil glaze in various colours. Offcuts from the window and door openings have been used for stairs and window sills.
The façades are clad with frame-sawn Douglas fir coverboarding, while European larch is used for the bargeboards and other vulnerable sections.« w| wingardhs.se
Hiroyuki Hirai
The intermediate entrance, with columns and roofing in local cedar, unifies the two museums.
falsterbo,
The airy and light interior is also an experiment in how much visible CLT can be used in walls and floors.
William Gustavsson
object Villa O
Med ödmjukhet och nytänkande skapar vi framtidens tysta och miljövänliga byggnader tillsammans med våra kunder och deras projektteam. Vi hittar attraktiva klimatsmarta lösningar för hållbart byggande i naturliga material, med människan i centrum
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Archipelago cabins on a small scale
object Majamaja
architect Littow architectes
structural engineer Koski consulting
Social hub in wood softens the concrete
Villejuif, france In some deprived neighbourhoods in France, various projects are working to prevent concrete buildings from taking over. One example is the Work Assistance Establishment and Services (esAT) centre that has been inserted into an area of parkland, establishing a whole new tone with its façade discreetly clad in Douglas fir, sitting among 100-year-old trees. The esAT centre is not only an urban regeneration project but also a
object Hantverkshus
architect Dream
structural engineer Arbonis
helsinKi, finland A village in miniature? After two years of testing, there is now a small-scale mini-village of cabins that use smart solutions to fit the core necessities in a small space. Created with sustainable construction and living in mind, the cabins are inspired by traditional dwellings in the Finnish archipelago.
The cabins are designed to be located in serenely beautiful locations, with no connection to roads or mains utilities. Instead, they have solar panels and battery
storage, a wastewater treatment system and rainwater harvesting. Built from prefabricated mass timber elements that can be assembled without heavy machinery, they can be placed even in quite isolated environments. The cabins can later be dismantled and moved to another location – or integrated with each other as your family grows and you need more space. Storage is built into the floor, and the folding furniture is designed for multiple functions.« w| majamaja.com
social project for people with disabilities. The architecture aims to promote mental wellbeing, resulting in a building with no corridors, just airy workshops flooded with natural light from the north, providing a good working environment.
The interior’s exposed structure made of spruce and Douglas fir gives a warm and inviting feel, while the walls are clad in wood fibre for good acoustics. Feedback on the project is unequivocal: the wood is having a beneficial impact on the wellbeing and concentration of the target group.« w| dream.archi
Chikako
Harada
The ESAT centre is located in an area with a lot of concrete and thus brings a new look to the neighbourhood and its park.
The cabins boast a colour scheme that blends in with the Finnish archipelago, where they can be set up in complete privacy.
Cyrille Weiner
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Low-key structure enhances place and function
object Stand
architect Anthony Laffargue
structural engineer
st clair, france On the border between the farming landscape and the town centre, sympathetically placed next to a cemetery, a sports ground now has a new stand. Thanks to its location, it has become both a hub for the area and a low-key backdrop to the activity area, framed by mist-shrouded mountains
Annecy structures
Glulam columns in local spruce work with transverse glulam beams to support the roof of the grandstand, which is not just for shelter. Black solar
Zhang Jian
The new stand connects the sports ground with the city. Its low glulam roof also contains a hidden layer of technology.
panels sit on top of a secondary, dark-coloured roof, with their particular incline making them serve as both a technical solution and an architectural feature. Other technology is hidden between the two roofs, and the height of the stand is deliberately low to emphasise its structure
The dark three-ply panels are fixed to the floor joists to prevent them from warping over time, a method that also minimises gaps on the façade, making the volume appear smooth and almost abstract from a distance.« w| anthonylaffargue.com
guangzhou, china The sequoia is a cypress tree that intertwines its roots with other trees, making it strong enough to root deeply and grow tall and strong even in shallow soil. This is a symbolic reference point for the design of the new exhibition centre, which will showcase research results in advanced technologies to the whole world. The building’s dome consists of a diamond gridshell structure in Douglas fir glulam,
using curved, hyperbolic wooden beams to form the 21-metre-high spherical shape. Recessed brackets provide stability and also conceal the structure’s steel reinforcements. The sphere thus has a smooth and unbroken surface along the inside, which is framed on the outside by the façade’s glass shell.
In the centre of the hall, a stylised sequoia tree rises to the top of the building, spreading its branches outwards into the sphere. The interwoven shell symbolises the growth of different disciplines and specialities, branching out across the country.« e| info@hot-design.co
Vladimir de Mollerat
The advanced gridshell structure of curved, hyperbolic beams forms the envelope of the Guangzhou exhibition centre.
object Cannano architect Hot design structural engineer (wood)
Suzhou Kunlun crown homes
dingy
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Pruned oak protects barn
Modern villa with hand-hewn façade
tammisaari, finland On a rocky promontory with large height variations and views of both the sea and a protected walnut grove, the client wanted a modern villa, built using traditional construction techniques and natural materials, all sympathetically tailored to the site. The existing buildings were left in situ and the new one placed to the north of them, so that together they frame a courtyard. In order to provide shelter from the wind on the rather exposed site, the house is divided into two rectangles, connected by a spacious entrance. The overlap between the two buildings optimises the view of the sea both from the interior and through the glazing
Give more back to nature than we take
stocKholm, sweden »For humanity to thrive, nature must flourish. But we are not on track. Your task at this COP is to convert words into action.« Secretary-General António Guterres opened the uN Biodiversity Conference 2024 with a call for immediate action to strengthen planetary ecosystems. Human societies on Earth need nature to remain viable, and we are running out of time to make things right.
abergaVenny, uK A property owner in Wales wanted to hide previous façade repairs to a 17th century barn and give it a wooden façade instead. As nearby woodland was ready for thinning, the timber could be sourced locally – by pruning the English oak and using the offcuts to clad the barn. The wood was first processed with a band saw and left to dry until the next season, before the 15 millimetre thick shingles could be cut and fitted.
Many of the shavings were small, as their surface area was what could be extracted from the wood, and this also influenced the end result. Craftsman Wycliffe Stutchbury tells us that he did not use any drawings, working freehand instead from a vague general plan. He describes the intuitive work as being like stacking wood, meaning that the end result should hold up and have structural integrity but not feel designed. However, the composition does contain influences from the nearby Black Mountains.« w| wycliffestutchbury.co.uk
a clear connection between outside and inside, with the buildings also providing shelter from the wind.
that overlooks the terraces. The pitched roofs meet above the entrance to elegantly break up the scale. The house is built from hand-hewn pine logs and a post-and-beam system around
the large windows. The floors and ceilings of the interior are also made of pine, with the tapered floorboards treated with lye and oiled. The wood was sourced from the local area and the work done by local craftsmen.« w| mnyark.fi
So what can the construction and real estate sector do to boost nature? We are just starting to get to grips with climate footprints, starting to understand how to set science-based targets, starting to act to reduce carbon emissions and switch to circular flows
But how can we also help all the world’s habitats and ecosystems to recover, and at a fast enough pace? One simple answer – as difficult as it may sound – is that we all need to follow the principle of net benefit: giving more back to nature than we take.
We need to shift to strengthening ecosystems in the places we build and manage, but also in the value chain, from limestone quarry to house foundation, forest to wooden building. Nature positivity needs to become a factor that is integrated into strategic and financial decisions, something that is designed and shaped and then physically built into our living environments, in green corridors and watercourses, as well as in buildings, urban spaces and streets. With regenerative architecture – where built environments are created using renewable energy, bio-based and circular materials, and innovative technology and design – we can build environments that strengthen local habitats and ecocycles while contributing to the long-term resilience of ecosystems and communities.
The uK’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation ensures that new developments actually contribute to net gains in biodiversity. This is done through measures such as tree planting and urban wetlands or through compensatory measures in places where the needs or opportunities are greater, through rewilding and nature restoration. Similar ideas have now started to emerge in Sweden, for the benefit of nature and humanity.
So can we act fast enough? Yes, if everyone in the real estate and construction value chain takes responsibility. With collaboration, exploration and patience – a forest doesn’t grow overnight – there is a good chance of creating sufficient viability for ecosystems, economies and social habitats. We just need to remind ourselves, every day: for us and our businesses to thrive, nature must flourish!
Malin Belfrage, Architect and Sustainability Strategist Wycliffe Stutchbury
The old barn has been clad with shingles cut from timber collected locally during a thinning operation.
object The Craig architect Wycliffe Stutchbury
Johan Ljungqvist
The archipelago villa has
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the writer’s own.
object Skärgårdsvilla architect mny arkitekter
SACRED LIGHT IN CHAPEL WITH WEDGES AND HAND-CARVED BEAMS
Ondˇrej
RCnKSK architekti structural
Vít Mlázovský
nesVac ˇ ilK a, czechia The locals had long wanted a chapel that could be used for both spiritual reflection and gatherings. But the idea was for the building not just to be a symbol in the landscape, but also to contribute to the culture and traditions of the place. Clad with vertical wooden laths, the cylindrical chapel is approached via an avenue of apple trees.
The design is inspired by medieval building techniques in dialogue with modern technology, with the interior’s load-bearing grid structure consisting of thousands of wooden elements, CNC-milled and traditionally joined together with wedges. The floor is made
of compacted earth, while the lower wall is made of stone, before the wooden structure takes over. From here, seven hand-carved beams, 15 metres long, run freely through the chapel space towards the roof peak, where they are crowned by a steel spire. The perspective entices visitors to look up, creating a spiritual experience. The inclusion of small windows allows sunlight to penetrate into the heart of the chapel.«
• A key factor in the choice of material was its ability to age beautifully, improving over time rather than diminishing in quality.
• In a landscape long used for farming, but with no forest in sight, natural materials such as wood, stone and earth took on an important symbolic role in bringing faith into the landscape.
w| rcnksk.com
The photo
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SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE
The temporary residential centre, mainly for homeless women, in the upmarket district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi in Barcelona exemplifies a new strategy. It is not a rough and ready emergency centre, but a safe place where those concerned can be helped to get back on their feet in a supportive environment. »
The repeating wooden modules combine with the glossy tiles to create a warm and welcoming feel.
text Johan Bentzel photo José Hevia
The Spanish city of Barcelona has a long-standing programme to care for people without a home or in need of shelter. This covers everything from social housing for households that would otherwise be excluded from the housing market, to shelters for the homeless and refuges for those in temporary need or victims of domestic violence.
Until recently, these centres were treated as emergency facilities, designed to meet the basic needs of as many people as possible for a relatively short time. But recently, there has been a paradigm shift.
The focus is now on the needs of the individual, and personalised measures – medical and social – are put in place over a longer period of time to help people regain their independence.
This approach is reflected in the new temporary residential centre for homeless people recently built in the affluent district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, next to an existing day centre for the same target group. Facilities like this are normally built on the outskirts of the city, but here the centre is surrounded by private schools and expensive houses.
»It’s quite the contrast to see people who live on the street making their way to this wealthy upper-class neighbourhood,« says César Vivas of the architectural firm Vivas Arquitectos, which he runs with his brother Cristian Vivas.
Vivas Arquitectos wanted to create a building with safe spaces, plenty of room for socialising and a warm feeling. They didn’t want it to be an impersonal, institutional care facility. They really wanted it to feel like a home, not a shelter
The wooden structure they chose was crucial in creating the right atmosphere, despite wooden buildings being rare in Spain for cost reasons.
»In all our projects, we try to find the balance between economic, social and ecological sustainability. And the point is always: What should we focus on most? Using wood makes it more expensive. But in this case, we homed in on the material because we wanted this particular feeling,« says César Vivas.
the faCIlIty Is virtually a zero-energy building, thanks in part to the timber, good insulation and passive strategies such as automated awnings. The choice of materials also contributed to a calmer and quieter construction site, showing due consideration for neighbouring businesses and residents. In addition, it speeded up the whole process. For César Vivas, who had never designed a wooden building before, it was almost a revelation.
»I still remember the feeling when we arrived at the site early on and all we could hear was the birds or the sound of a hammer. It was astonishing. I’m used to concrete, which generates so much noise,« he says, adding:
»Of course, we chose wood because of the limited carbon footprint, but also because we had to build as quickly and
»
As the dominant material in the interior, wood is important for creating the right supportive atmosphere.
The terraces and verandas recessed into the building are both important aesthetic details and a way to create more social spaces.
»
quietly as possible. Plus we wanted an inviting building. Wood was perfect for meeting all these needs.«
The building basically comprises a system of load-bearing walls in cross-laminated timber (CLT), placed in parallel at 3.4 metre intervals, but for functional reasons larger spans have also been used in selected locations.
The outer walls of the longer side and some sections of the inner wall have been placed perpendicular to the system of parallel walls to ensure transverse stability. The thickness of the walls varies from 100 to 150 millimetres, depending on the load.
The floor system also uses CLT, with a concrete layer to dampen impact sound. The underside is then clad with layers of wood fibre insulation and plaster. Some parts of the building also have a suspended ceiling to further improve acoustic performance and provide space for utilities.
While wood dominates the interior, some of the walls are clad with shimmering tiles and the floors are covered in a dark terrazzo. The façade consists of a self-supporting CLT wall with an outer layer of raw and shiny corrugated aluminium, while the windows are framed in laminated pine.
the desIgn of the building has largely been guided by the constraints of the site and the clear brief from the local authority.
Almost 3,000 square metres of space was included in the drawings, with office space, a kitchen, a dining room and a total of 100 beds in single, double and quadruple rooms. But the architects’ vision also included more social spaces than the client had actually envisaged.
»So we had to do some negotiating. How could we create these spaces, terraces and verandas that the client hadn’t
asked for but that we could fit in the building? The client had really only pictured corridors, a dining room and a living room, but they liked the idea. So we created these extra spaces, on the outside or located between the other rooms,« says César Vivas.
»Without them, it would feel more like a hotel or a hospital. This way you break up the corridors and you also bring more light into the centre of the building. It’s open to the sky, but framed, so it’s like an open room.«
The allocated land was sandwiched between other buildings, with a distance from the street of only eight metres. On the other sides, the distances to neighbouring properties were even smaller. This is why the building is designed as a single, rectangular, three-storey unit, approximately 60 metres long and 16 metres wide, with a maximum height of 9 metres.
»CIRCUMSTANCES LED US TO THIS MODULAR WAY OF BUILDING«
The entrance level consists of a waiting room, a lounge, a dining room, a shower room and a medical centre. Both women and men are welcome here during the day. However, the beds on the other two floors are for women only.
In addition to accommodation, there are offices and workshop spaces on the mid level, while the upper level is all residential rooms – arranged in a row in a repeated pattern.
»Circumstances led us to this modular way of building, which was perfect for the wooden structure. The building is »
Architect César Vivas
The corrugated cladding lightens the look of the compact building. It reflects its surroundings and changes over the day.
»
very compact, because we didn’t have any other option,« says César Vivas.
Nevertheless, the architects have tried various tactics to break the monotony. On each floor, sections of the modules have given way to terraces and verandas, recessed into the building itself, or in the words of César Vivas: »rooms that are inside but outside«. The building is modular and repetitive but with richly varied spaces.
the façade CladdIng also plays an important role in this context. Because the rectangular building is so solid and substantial, the architects wanted a light and preferably slightly ambiguous material on the façade.
»The aluminium is like a mirror and has a very interesting reflection. It reflects the greenery of the vegetation and the blue of the sky, so the façade changes over the course of the day, making the building more alive,« says César Vivas.
architect Vivas arquitectos.
client BImSA (Barcelona Municipal Infrastructure).
Again, it is about trying to get away from the idea of a rough shelter and giving the building some dignity, he emphasises. In time, it will also be surrounded by an orchard. »We wanted to create architecture that could help people in very difficult circumstances to gain a sense of peace, security and having a home. That was really important to us.«
Several smaller areas break up the living room, office and dining room to make the building feel cohesive.
Residential centre for homeless women
BARCElonA, SPAIn
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Bild: Privat villa i Førresfjorden utanför Haugesund i Norge. Byggd i Kärnfuru och applicerad SiOO:X Träskyddande Panelfärger 02-Oyster Grey.
The atrium connects the different functions of the building and provides a natural means of orientation.
Optimised materials on the quayside
Stora Enso’s new headquarters in Helsinki not only reflect the company’s changing needs but also emphasise other values, such as sustainability, flexibility and openness. Katajanokan Laituri is a building that relies on wood to create the architectural experience. »
text Katarina Brandt photo Tuomas Uusheimo & Kalle Kouhia
In November 2019, forest industry group Stora Enso announced plans to move its headquarters to a new, sustainable wooden building on the quayside at Katajanokka in Helsinki, just a stone’s throw from its existing premises. With plans finalised, the building, commissioned by the Finnish pension insurance company Varma and named Katajanokan Laituri, opened in August 2024. One half of the building is Stora Enso’s headquarters, while the other is leased by the Sokos hotel group. This creates a dynamic meeting place with both a modern working environment and a hotel business.
desIgned by helsInkI-based Anttinen Oiva architects, who won the commission after an international architectural competition in 2020, Katajanokan Laituri reflects Stora Enso’s renewable materials portfolio, with all structures on the four floors above ground built from the company’s prefabricated wood products, tailored to meet innovative structural and architectural requirements. The majority of the structures are exposed internally to create light and open spaces that foster creativity and support modern ways of working.
»We have a long tradition of building in wood here in Finland, but large-scale projects in urban environments are still rare. Katajanokan Laituri gave us an opportunity to work in a demanding context with clients, partners and builders who understood, supported and drove the project forward,« says architect Selina Anttinen from Anttinen Oiva Architects. The project’s ambition has been to minimise the climate impact of the building over its life cycle and to optimise the use of renewable resources and materials. The load-bearing post-and-beam frame and the façade structure are made of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) from Stora Enso’s factory in Varkaus, central Finland. The interior walls, lift and stair shafts, floor and ceilings are made of cross-laminated timber (CLT) from Gruvön sawmill in Grums, Sweden. The wooden elements store away 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide absorbed by the trees during their growth, and the raw material comes
The headquarters are inspired by warehouses of the past but constructed from modern materials. The building also serves as a flood barrier along the quay.
» from forests within a 100-kilometre radius of the production facilities.
The 700 windows on the upper floors provide wonderful natural light and help create a connection with nature. The windows weigh a total of 210 tonnes and are supported in frames of blockboard, like glulam but with a thinner material thickness and a high proportion of heartwood. It has a high degree of dimensional stability and stiffness, allowing the creation of elongated structures without the need for additional reinforcement. The large areas of glazing maximise daylight influx, reducing the need for artificial lighting and creating a pleasant working environment.
»We approached the project from a holistic perspective. All the parts have to work together to make the building attractive and sustainable. There’s a balance between creating a visual look and ensuring that the design meets the technical and environmental challenges,« says architect Teemu Halme, also from Anttinen Oiva.
The flows within the building encourage both cooperation and efficiency. The entrance level contains receptions for the offices and the hotel, exhibition spaces, retail premises, a restaurant, a café and flexible conference rooms, all of which showcase Stora Enso’s wood products applied in various ways. The upper floors are organised into different types of versatile workspaces and communal areas. The basement houses the technical facilities and a garage optimised by an automated parking system.
Architect
»THE ATRIUM PROVIDES AN INTUITIVE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE FLOORS«
A central atrium extends all the way down through the building to the ground floor, where the light spills over a large, circular wooden bench.
»The atrium provides an intuitive connection between the floors, making it easy to orientate yourself within the building and ensuring a bright and welcoming feel no matter where you are,« says Selina Anttinen.
solo sokos hotel pIer 4, which occupies half of the building, is an important component of the project’s hybrid concept. The hotel offers 164 rooms, a restaurant, a café, a wellness centre and several conference rooms that are also available to Stora Enso employees.
»Katajanokan Laituri is both an architectural landmark in Helsinki and a symbol of sustainability and innovation –values that are a key part of our identity and something that many companies seem to appreciate when choosing us as a meeting place. I hope we’ll see more hotels built in wood in the future. It’s a vital element of the way forward, if our »
The building is a hybrid concept, with one part housing a hotel, restaurant and conference facilities.
Selina Anttinen
The interior, fittings and frame are made of wood, with each element optimised using different wood products, such as LVL in the columns.
»
industry is to secure a sustainable future for tourism,« says Petra Wikström, Hotel Director at Solo Sokos Hotel Pier 4.
Externally, the double façade has an organic undulating form that breaks up the elongated block structure, inspired by the harbour’s historic warehouses. This shape creates sheltered inner courtyards and varied views of the surrounding cityscape and landscape. The façade also effectively dampens the low-frequency noise from the harbour and ferry traffic and protects the timber frame from the harsh conditions of its seafront location.
The outer shell consists of glass, natural stone and white painted aluminium, while the load-bearing outer wall sits inside and is made of mass timber. The City of Helsinki required the building to blend in with the surrounding environment and form a natural continuation of the city’s frontage onto the sea. The colour therefore also has cultural value here in the White City of the North, with its many light granite buildings.
»The look of the building emerges from the interplay between the different layers of the façade, whose appearance changes depending on the light conditions and seasons. It also adapts to the different scales of the neighbouring buildings from different historical eras,« says Teemu Halme.
The spacious roof terrace is open to the public and offers a 360-degree view of Helsinki’s many attractions – Uspenski Cathedral up on its hill, Helsinki Cathedral, the ferris wheel, the market hall and, not least, the sea. Up here on the roof, landscape architects Nomaji have created a meadow of plants from the Finnish archipelago. The terrace also houses solar panels, a restaurant and areas for recreation and exercise. This varied outdoor space creates a small oasis of diverse nature in the heart of the city centre, and it can be accessed by everyone.
»The greenery has grown faster than expected. The plants
Katajanokan Laituri
hElSInKI, fInlAnD
architect Anttinen Oiva Architects.
client Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company.
tenants Stora Enso, Solo Sokos Hotel Pier 4.
structural engineer Sweco.
certification lEED Platinum.
area (gross) 23,000 sqm.
area (usable) 16,400 sqm.
w| aoa.fi
seem to thrive in the urban environment, and they also attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies,« says Selina Anttinen. Here and there are tree trunks that will be left to rot and do their bit to create a valuable habitat for insects that need dead wood to survive and reproduce. This is part of the city’s strategy to prioritise biodiversity even as Helsinki grows. As well as being a pleasant place to be, the rooftop planting collects rainwater and helps to cool the building. One of the courtyards offers a celebration of the organic materials in the building, with the addition of a newly planted birch grove.
»The rooftop terrace came out of a desire to create something for Helsinki’s residents and visitors. It’s an inviting and beautiful place, open to everyone who wants to enjoy the nature and the view,« says Selina Anttinen.
katajanokan laIturI’s exposed location on the quay takes into account predicted sea level rises and acts as a flood barrier. The City of Helsinki has carried out temporary reinforcements around the area in preparation for a permanent redevelopment where the entire quay, from Salutorget to the tip of Katajanokka, will be transformed into a cohesive public space.
The shape creates sheltered courtyards and terraces. The outer shell of the façade is made of glass, natural stone and aluminium.
Meet the architects
Selina Anttinen och Teemu Halme
»Wood is a local material with global benefits«
For Selina Anttinen and Teemu Halme of Anttinen Oiva Architects, wood is much more than just a building material – it is a feeling and an experience.
for selina Anttinen and Teemu Halme, wood is the key to creating warm, welcoming and human environments that meet the sustainability demands of the future.
Prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) elements, combined with innovative construction methods, now make it possible to use wood in everything from small-scale projects to residential neighbourhoods and public buildings. With over a decade of experience in wood construction, the firm has developed a deep understanding of how modern wooden structures combine technology and aesthetics.
»We see wood as part of a wider sustainability agenda. It’s about choosing the right material and creating long-lasting buildings that are flexible and adaptable to future needs. Wood is beautiful and sustainable, but also functional and resource-efficient,« says Teemu.
Selina and Teemu believe that wooden architecture is as much about feeling and experience as it is about technology. They want buildings to be pleasant places, with natural light, good acoustics and tactile qualities that are enhanced by presence of wood.
»We’re seeing a change in the willingness to embrace wood and in the way wood is used aesthetically. Although fire safety considerations make it necessary to cover wood with other materials in parts of larger buildings, more and more effort is now being put into allowing wood to be seen and make its presence felt. For us, it’s about letting wood become part of the building’s identity, so that the people who step inside experience something new and different,« says Selina.
with seVeral successful wood projects in their portfolio, they see great opportunities for wood in the architecture of the future, especially in urban environments where sustainable solutions are increasingly in demand.
»Wood is a local material with global benefits. It stores carbon, requires less energy to produce and gives us a sustainable way to build. But above all, it creates places in which people thrive and businesses grow,« concludes Selina Anttinen.
Stora Enso’s move to Katajanokan Laituri marks an exciting change that reflects the evolution of both society and the company. Anttinen Oiva highlights this project as a reminder that architecture is always a reflection of its time and that buildings also need to be re-evaluated and adapted as the world changes. They are not just physical structures, but also symbols of cultural and commercial values.
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Teemu Halme.
Selina Anttinen.
Quietly Improving Your Environment
FLEXIBLE OFFICES DESIGNED AROUND THE NEEDS OF EMPLOYEES AND THE CLIMATE, WITH SOCIAL SPACES BOTH INSIDE AND OUT
Google’s new Borregas office in Sunnyvale, California, USA, is intended to serve as a prototype for the sustainable office and workplace of the future. Designed around the needs of employees, the building is highly flexible and has an extremely low carbon footprint. With its new office building in sunny Sunnyvale, Google wanted to bring together the best of several worlds and create a building that is sustainable for people, the climate and the world – both now and into the future. The flexible design also means that the building is able to meet new needs as they arise. This ensures that it will be able to stand for a long time and not have to be demolished or completely refitted because of operational changes. Building with wood was an obvious choice right from the start – which is why Michael Green Architecture (MGA) was hired.
»Although we’re used to working with wood, this is a groundbreaking project in many ways. It means a lot that a huge name like Google is leading the way in showing other companies that it is possible to create such a resource-efficient building with such a low climate impact, while being designed for the needs and wellbeing of the users,« says Maria Mora, architect at MGA, who has been involved in the project from the start.
the desIgn Is based on the premise of making users the starting point and building from the inside out. As a result, the building consists of two distinct parts: a light, airy and open section with double-height ceilings on the north side where the teams sit, and a more enclosed section with meeting rooms, toilets and other facilities on the south side. In the centre are the lifts and a large, airy
The building is designed with the users’ needs in mind. The overhangs create terraces and shading from the sun.
text Sara Bergqvist photo Ema Peter
Design principle to create social spaces inside and out.
Cross-section. stairwell with generous skylights linking the two sections.
»Everyone who works here can see out from their desk, both to the sides and up to the sky. But we’ve been very careful to make sure there is no glare from the sun. The façade enveloping the triple-glazed windows is constructed as a closed cavity system, the first of its kind in North America. The cavity contains a sun protection system with wooden blinds that adjust automatically based on the brightness of the daylight and the sun. We have a weather station on the roof to help with this,« explains Maria.
The lower floor, with its double-height ceiling, houses a café and other communal areas. This means that the building has three floors on the north side and five on the south.
Projections in the façade on the south side provide both sun shading and balconies as outside space. On the north side, the façade has a simpler and more uniform design.
»To prevent birds from flying into the large glass façade, we’ve chosen a sintered glass with small dots. Both the glass and the exterior lighting are designed so they don’t throw light pollution up into the sky when it’s dark outside,« says Maria Mora.
the load-bearIng struCture consists of a glulam post-and-beam system. In order to withstand the harsh earthquake conditions in California, the carcass has been supplemented with a steel frame that works with the floor system to damp any movement. Since the steel frames are not load-bearing, they could be left untreated. The glulam posts and beams – all made of Douglas fir – have also been left exposed as part of the architectural look. The sprinkler system that
»DESIGN A GOOD TEAM – THEN THE BUILDING WILL ALSO BE GOOD«
runs along the beams is the only visible installation. Most of the plumbing, ventilation, IT, power and data systems run through the raised service floor. In contrast, the sprinkler pipes and electrical wiring for the lighting are integrated into the ceiling via slots in the CLT panelling. In the double-height floors, solar panel cables and rainwater pipes have also been integrated into vertical notches in the glulam beams.
»This gives us a highly flexible system that makes it easy to adapt the interior space as the needs of the business change,« says Maria Mora.
According to Maria, one of the main reasons for the success of the project is the expertise of the whole team working on the building.
»There is lots of debate about the best way to design a building. But I would say the most important thing is to design a good team – then the building will also be good. One example of this was that we had an environmental consultant and a life cycle consultant on board from the start to minimise our environmental impact. This allowed us to make the right decisions at an early stage on things like materials and landscaping. By making
The building consists of a communal section with open spaces and a more closed part.
Architect Maria Mora
decisions early, you can achieve massive impacts, but the effect won’t be nearly as big if you try to tack something on at a later stage,« says Maria.
According to a life cycle assessment of the various material options, the chosen solution with a large proportion of glulam, based on wood from FSC-certified forests, would cut the building’s carbon footprint by up to 96 per cent, compared with a traditional steel structure. The wood in the current building also keeps around 3,900 tonnes of carbon dioxide stored away.
In addition, several other measures were taken to save water and energy, including efficient stormwater management systems and the use of recycled water for outdoor irrigation. The seaside location of Sunnyvale, which is in San Francisco Bay, also meant designing the surrounding landscape so that water cannot flood in during storm surges.
»Other environmental considerations included choosing drought-resistant plants that would not need extra irrigation. By choosing plants from the local flora, we’re also supporting local ecosystems, while plants that are adapted to the environment
here also need less maintenance. Inside, we’ve chosen to use a lot of plants and materials that contribute to good health and a good working environment, not least materials with low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCS),« says Maria.
On the energy front, the façade’s triple-glazed windows and sunscreens help to minimise energy consumption, for both cooling and heating.
»The all-electric design and solar panels on the roof have allowed us to eliminate fossil fuels, minimising the project’s environmental footprint,« Maria continues.
the new offICe building was inaugurated last autumn, and Google is more than happy with the result.
»We chose MGA because they are at the forefront, as the leading proponents of wood design and construction in the world. Their passion for design and the environment is evident in everything they do. Throughout the design process, MGA has been engaged in every aspect of the project and in building our strategy for success,« says Michelle Kaufmann, architect and head of research
Google Borregas
SUnnyvAlE, CAlIfoRnIA, USA
architect Michael Green Architecture, mGA client Google.
wood structural engineer Equilibrium Consulting. area (usable) 17,000 sqm.
and development for the built environment at Google.
Maria Mora says they have also received positive feedback from Google regarding the indoor environment.
»We’ve heard that everyone really likes the exposed wooden structure. On the double-height floors, it’s all quite impressive – sitting among the glulam columns is almost like sitting in the middle of a forest. The light, the warmth, the smell of the wood and the serenity it creates are also much appreciated by the employees. Wood has a tendency to lower stress levels, an effect that is the subject of much research right now,« says Maria Mora.
»
To meet earthquake requirements, the load-bearing timber frame has been supplemented with damping steel frames.
All the utilities except the sprinkler system are concealed.
The architects have used the overhang at the entrance to create a natural sheltered meeting place.
The windows in the façade have sintered glass with small dots to dissuade birds from flying into it.
Exploratory design where wood meets earth
A welcoming atrium creates a meeting place in the new French Civic Centre for the nineteen municipalities of Moselle and Madon. The materials shape the interior in a combination of wood and earth, all sourced locally.
text Johanna Lundeberg photo Ludmilla Cerveny
on a former industrial site in north-eastern France, the municipalities that make up Moselle and Madon wanted to bring together some of their services in one place, while also providing a focal point for providers of public transport, waste management and the like. The building also serves as a civic centre for residents.
»We needed to create a place with a dual function, as a workplace for municipal
The design is inspired by the region’s old half-timbered houses, with a timber frame. Earth acts as both a stabiliser and a room divider.
The Civic Centre is designed to serve several functions: as a workplace and meeting place for the region’s civil servants and as a meeting place for local residents.
The geometry of the building is inspired by both the surrounding countryside and the industrial buildings of the area. It is essentially a large rectangular barn covered by a roof with three lantern lights, in a design that determines the space and flow of the interior, which emanates from an atrium.
»It’s not a corridor, it’s a public space for the locals. We wanted to pay more attention to the quality of the communal space, which in this case is both institutional and everyday. A place where you can meet more informally,« says Benoît Sindt.
the exposed tImber structure of the interior, which has been left untreated and creates a warm feeling in the building, is made of spruce from the neighbouring Vosges Mountains. In addition, earth from the region has been used in the walls.
»We’ve drawn a great deal of inspiration from regional architecture and developed a process that has a low carbon impact. We use local and natural materials such as wood, earth, stone and straw. On this project, we wanted to experiment with mud bricks,« explains Benoît.
– instead, and only in the interior, because then there was no need to fire the bricks. A total of 18,000 adobe bricks were embedded in the six-metre high earth wall at the heart of the building. They were made in a workshop that was open to anyone who wanted to learn more about the process.
»People got to meet, socialise and, above all, learn how to make the bricks, a skill that is far from common despite the fact that there is earth everywhere – in fact, this is one of the simplest processes around for producing your own building material,« adds Benoît
Thanks to the lanterns – which are used to let in light and air – the interior has large, high and naturally open spaces, which are complemented by smaller, more intimate offices.
They are made of two different types of earth, locally sourced, plus straw and water. The difference between clay bricks and mud bricks is that the clay versions are fired to withstand rainwater. However, the kiln needs to consume a lot of energy to reach the high firing temperatures required. And so they decided to use mud bricks – adobe
The earth wall is 13 centimetres thick, based on technical calculations of the optimum dimension – 12 centimetres would not have been enough for good acoustics and 15 would have been too much, as it would have required more material and increased the loads.
» activities and as a community space and symbol for the region,« says Benoît Sindt, an architect at Studiolada, who designed the building with his colleague Aurélie Husson.
»Adobe alone is not enough to make the wall stable, so we combined it with wooden
»
posts and beams. The design is inspired by the half-timbered houses that have long existed in the surrounding regions, with a frame of wood and earth in between.
To stabilise the structure, the wooden frame is in two levels, three metres per level. A hybrid structure made entirely of natural materials has several advantages, explains Benoît Sindt:
»Wood has many qualities, but thermal performance can be a problem. It doesn’t hold warmth in winter and it doesn’t cool in summer because it’s too lightweight. That’s why we’re exploring the use of dense materials to complement wood and maintain the right temperature inside the building.
The combination of earth and wood also gives the building good acoustics.
»Although sound is not a visual medium, it’s a key part of the architecture as it affects comfort, albeit unconsciously to some extent.«
The floors are also made from local material, in this case stone sourced from the region.
»The layer is two centimetres thick, very hard, easy to clean and not very expensive. And it looks great,« says Benoît.
although the buIldIng was designed with reference to regional vernacular architecture and using processes that originated long ago, it has a modern feel. Its function may be simple and low-tech, but a great deal of care has been taken to make the parts fit together and work as intended. Most of the budget has been spent on the building’s shell, with the large zinc and terracotta roof, in practical terms, serving to protect the façade’s timber cladding while at the same time, more abstractly, symbolising protection. Since the aforementioned earth walls, together with the windows, help to regulate the temperature, the building does not need air conditioning.
»Air conditioning is one of the worst technical inventions for the climate. Having to use it often means that the shell was not properly designed. But because this is a workplace, mechanical ventilation is provided in
offices and meeting rooms. Otherwise, the ventilation is natural, regulated by opening the three chimneys,« says Benoît.
sInCe Its CompletIon, the architects have been told that people are happy in the building, and Benoît notes that both human and professional relations have become quieter and more relaxed.
»We’ve spoken to the people working there, and they tell us they’ve seen an important difference compared with before. There’s an everyday comfort, and the softly reassuring building helps make conversations run more smoothly.«
2.
frame is
in two levels to stabilise the structure, which also contains earth. The natural materials create good acoustics and a comfortable temperature in the building.
1. Cross-section.
The timber
built
moSEllE AnD mADon,
Designed to be dismantled – lessons from a sports centre
At a time when sustainability and circularity are increasingly important, a temporary sports centre in Zurich is offering valuable insights into how to design buildings for future dismantling. The project, led by Professor Daniel Blum, shows how thoughtful design decisions and early collaboration can create buildings that are both architecturally sophisticated and ready for a second life.
text David Valldeby photo Yohan Zerdoun
the unIversIty of Zurich has a new building, the Gloriarank temporary sports centre, designed by local firm Itten+Brechbühl. What stands out is that the building, with its finely detailed exterior and considered interior, is designed to be dismantled. Perhaps the project’s most significant innovations lie not in the materials or techniques used, but in the design process itself.
»We launched the process very differently from the way we usually do it. We didn’t
bring anything to the first meeting, but asked the engineers what they wanted,« says lead architect Daniel Blum.
This collaborative approach helped to avoid clashes between the architect’s ideas and the structural requirements. But above all, it ensured cost-effective and fast construction.
spaces that require a higher level of comfort, such as showers and changing rooms, taking into account thermal comfort and daylight requirements. The second volume houses the three levels of sports halls, designed with large spans and specific daylight conditions – for example, they avoid south-facing windows to prevent sunlight from dazzling the athletes.
The third volume is a long structure that houses sports equipment storage as well as technical rooms, all requiring minimal climate control.
»You don’t need heating, cooling or ventilation here. The balls don’t care if it’s around zero degrees,« says Daniel Blum.
The result was a three-volume building, carefully integrated into Zurich’s university campus. The smallest volume contains the »
thIs approaCh demonstrates how splitting up the different functions can optimise energy use and building efficiency. However, the temporary status of the building also
Although the centre was built to be dismantled, its location in the urban space was important to maintain the character of the area.
played a role, because although they followed the building regulations that apply to all buildings, there was a more open attitude towards alternative solutions and how to approach the function of different sections.
The location of the building itself posed several challenges, situated as it was between a listed building by Bruno Giacometti and other significant university buildings. The team prioritised the location in the urban space, seeking to make the sports centre
harmonise with its surroundings while maintaining the area’s characteristic pedestrian access.
glorIarank uses several innovative methods to maximise the potential for reuse. Most of the elements are fixed with screws instead of nails or glue, making future dismantling easier. A particularly clever solution was developed for the wet areas in the changing rooms. The waterproofing was installed
against an additional layer of wall panelling, screwed to the primary structure, which was then tiled over. When the building is eventually dismantled, the tiled sections can be removed as complete units, leaving the primary structure intact and reusable.
»The frame is 100 percent reusable, but overall we only achieved around 85 percent. For both time and cost reasons, we had to nail instead of screw some parts, which reduces the scope for reuse,« says Daniel Blum.
one lesson learnt was to work with untreated materials where possible, to promote a circular design. The framing system employs a post-and-beam solution, with the two lower halls utilising hardwood glulam beams that can handle longer spans without being too heavy, while the top floor of smaller halls has been fine with spruce glulam beams. The façade is designed to be demountable, with panels fixed using standard screws, although for practical reasons some compromises had to be made in some of the more inaccessible areas.
Even the OSB used throughout the interior marks an innovation in sustainable materials. Unlike conventional OSB, which typically contains 2–4 percent adhesive, this version uses just steam and pressure so the only thing binding it together is the lignin in the wood.
The focus on untreated materials extends from the frame elements to the surface finishes, creating a continuity between the interior and exterior. Perforated panels were
The frame is fully reusable and different woods are used in the glulam beams so they do not become too thick over longer spans, like here in the lower hall where they are made of hardwood.
» Process model from Itten+Brechbühl for the assembly of the Gloriarank temporary sports centre.
Disassembly
used for spaces with acoustic requirements, such as the sports halls – but sparingly even here. The sound level is higher than would have been allowed in a permanent building.
The experience has influenced the way Daniel Blum now approaches all projects, temporary or otherwise.
»In actual fact, every building is temporary. We’ve taken what we learned in this process of explicitly temporary construction and we’re now applying it to all our projects. It’s kind of a new way of thinking about the built environment,« he reflects.
On future projects, Daniel suggests they should be even more radical in considering from the outset how everything will later be reused and dismantled. Understanding the time differences between different assembly methods and their implications for future disassembly is crucial. The technical knowledge acquired during the Gloriarank process can be used by the architects to create even more space for discussions on how something actually gets built.
In danIel’s vIew, the project represents a shift in architectural thinking that goes beyond temporary structures. Daniel references the philosophy of Japanese architect Jun’ya Ishigami, under which architects should strive to create »caves, not nests«, buildings with personality that can adapt to different uses over time, rather than spaces tailored for a single purpose at a single time.
»We still believe in building for a purpose,« he says.
Instead of trying to create permanent, inflexible structures, he proposes a kind of cave mentality – creating spaces with strong architectural character that take on different functions over time. Just as natural caves have served as everything from dwellings and sacred spaces to storage throughout human history, buildings today should also have the capacity to be reinterpreted and reshaped.
This approach to design and construction, which emphasises future adaptability and
material recycling, could help manage the environmental impact of the construction industry while creating buildings that are both sustainable and architecturally important, says Daniel Blum.
The temporary sports centre in Zurich shows that such an approach is feasible. The project points to a possible way forward where buildings are not designed as permanent monuments, but as adaptable resources that can evolve with the changing needs of society.
The interior OSB boards are made using steam and pressure, with no adhesive. Instead, the lignin holds the wood chips together.
Process model from Itten+Brechbühl for the disassembly of the Gloriarank temporary sports centre.
»AMONG A HUNDRED SKETCHES THERE IS ONE IDEA WORTH DEVELOPING«
A passionate advocate of wood, Professor Roberto Crocetti of kth Royal Institute of Technology emphasises the importance of balancing technical expertise with creativity in engineering education. Here, he shares his insights on teaching, motivation and innovative wood solutions.
text David Valldeby photo Veronica Crocetti
How did you get interested in wood?
– My path to wood construction actually started with concrete and steel. I wrote my thesis on concrete and did a doctorate in steel structures. But I realised that steel left little room for development, it’s a known and widely studied material. When I came into contact with wood, I realised that it had much more potential for development – new construction solutions and materials.
What are the benefits of wood?
– It’s easy to work with. Anyone can put together a small piece of furniture from wood, which would be much harder with steel. Above all, it’s beautiful. The feeling you get when you see a ceiling with wooden beams – a concrete floor system would feel very sterile. However, working with wood is also more challenging than working with steel and concrete. You have to think about so many different things, like how to make the structure stiff and stable enough. It’s not as easy as with steel, where you can just weld two beams together. With wood, you have to put more thought into finding the right solution, and that’s a challenge I enjoy.
You are very passionate about your structural work, tell us about your process.
– I work a lot with students and young people. I believe that’s the place to start, to inspire them. My job involves finding rational solutions, for example in terms of connections and shapes. Just because most people use a certain solution doesn’t mean it’s the most appropriate, but the aesthetic is also important. When it comes to wooden structures, I often see solutions being chosen that almost destroy the beauty of the structure. Where do you find the beauty in structures?
– It can be important to show how the structure works, this is called »structural honesty« – giving the structure a shape that responds to the loads it will be subjected to. Sometimes you want it to be completely invisible so that all you can see is the wood, but the joints employed most often in Sweden, using surface nail plates because they’re cheap, can sometimes ruin the look completely.
How do you get your students to work with an »open mind«?
– My teaching has evolved a great deal. I used to follow the
classic engineering programme where students are given well-defined tasks to solve, almost like a mathematical problem. Given a beam with a predetermined span, material and load, you have to calculate the required cross-section – a typical well-defined engineering problem. Now I give less well-defined tasks, where students get to be creative.
Take bridges, for example, which are a naked structure where you can focus just on the structure without having to think about lots of other things like construction physics, fire, acoustics and installations. We give the students parameters such as the span and the location of the bridge, as well as certain technical requirements that the bridge must fulfil. They have to create a design that is aesthetically pleasing but also possible to build under the given conditions. To succeed, they have to think about the most appropriate shape, consider the assembly and collaborate with engineers and architects.
What drives you to bring the two disciplines together?
– These days, there are often almost bulletproof walls between the departments, which is reflected out in the world of work too. Here, we have 20 engineers and 20 architects working together in mixed teams. They’re compelled to find compromises.
How do you manage to stay focused in your work?
– My research is very much about applied science. If I spend several years working on a research project, I’m not primarily interested in publishing articles. I feel like a failure if I don’t see any application of what I’ve been working on. For example, we’ve been researching birch plywood for five or six years to partially replace the use of steel in wooden structures, for both environmental and financial reasons. There is a lot of birch in Swedish forests, and now we’re starting to see the first application of this research, not least in trusses recently built in Sweden.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
– I spend a lot of time looking at what has been done before and I like to browse through old technical books. I always have a notebook with me to sketch in, and among maybe a hundred sketches there is one idea worth developing further. I also look at pictures of interesting structures being built today.
Charred wood increases resistance to moisture
Charring the surface of wood is an ancient method that produces both durable and aesthetically pleasing surfaces. The method has long been common in Japan but is also becoming popular in Scandinavia.
text Stina Hagelqvist photo Skanska
In all the climate zones with coniferous forest, wood construction techniques and processing methods strongly reflect how we have historically used and treated wood. After Finland and Sweden, Japan is the most forested country in relation to its surface area. It still boasts timber buildings dating back to the 8th century and wood remains a common building material, while traditional methods have been adapted to industrial production and use on a large scale. One such method is shou sugi ban or yakisugi, which is the method or art of burning wood to char the surface layer. The term is derived from the Japanese word for cedar – sugi – which is a common tree species in Japan.
While in Sweden we tended to leave the wood untreated and only in the 18th century began to systematically use Falu red paint to increase the durability of the façade cladding, the planks were charred in Japan. This method was only used for fence posts in Sweden, although it may have been more widespread than that. The Roman architect Vitruvius suggested using charring to increase the life of bridges and fort barricades in his Ten Books on Architecture from the 100s BCE
The charred wood façade has been popular in Scandinavia and Europe for years, not
least because of the aesthetic quality that the charring adds, but it is now also being promoted in the context of sustainability and circularity. In the Ressourcerækkerne apartment complex outside Copenhagen, the method goes hand in hand with reuse. Perhaps best known for its recycling of bricks from the Carlsberg brewery, the project is of equal note for its use of recovered wood in its window frames, which have been charred to give them a beautiful patina and better resistance. The methods have become something of a signature for Lendager Arkitekter, both the reuse and the charring, which also feature in their Waste Retreat holiday home. Here, both the frame and the façades are made of recovered timber that has been blackened externally and internally.
sweden, too, has examples of the method being used on a larger scale. The new head office of Boverket (the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning) in Karlskrona, designed by Sandellsandberg and due for completion in June, is clad in charred wood instead of glazed ceramic tiles. The reference to the black-tarred Blekingeeka boat is both clear and deliberate. As the method is not type-approved, a 1:1 scale fire
Boverket’s new head office in Karlskrona is under construction. The building is cleared to be clad with shou sugi ban wood after an approved 1:1 scale fire test.
moisture and fire
test was carried out so the building could be approved by a fire consultant as meeting the fire safety requirements.
It may seem paradoxical that fire and charring can actually improve material properties such as rot resistance and fire resistance, but it is simply a matter of chemistry. Charring changes the structure of the wood molecules, reducing the wood’s ability to absorb water and forming a heat-shielding layer that delays ignition. It also makes the cladding practically maintenance-free.
The scope for variation is huge, with different types of wood, degrees of firing and finishing giving different properties and effects. Using charred façade cladding instead of glazed tiles also makes it possible to obtain environmental certification under BREEAM and other standards.
Any method that reduces our carbon footprint is a good thing in the current climate emergency. We need both wood construction itself and finishing methods that reduce the use of environmentally harmful chemicals. As a state agency, Boverket’s controlled and regulated charred façade will hopefully pave the way for greater use of this treatment.
Projekt : Stommen Arkitekt: Sajt Arkitektstudio Produkt: Brandskyddad och Pigmenterad ThermoWood enligt SP Fire 105
Vi kan träfasad
Moelven har under många år fått förtroendet att leverera materialet till flera stora projekt. Med vår långa erfarenhet, gedigna träkunskap och väletablerade projektavdelning är vi den naturliga träleverantören för många arkitekter och entreprenörer. Vilket projekt behöver du hjälp med?
Vi vägleder i valet av synliga träprodukter: Träfasad för flervåningshus • Projektanpassad interiörpanel • Brandskydd av trä • Naturliga träfasader • Behandlingar • Altan och uteplats • Trätak
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The red details come from the traditional Blekingeeka boat with its red hull. An interesting contrast against the charred wood.
Stina Hagelqvist works as a building antiquarian and architectural historian at Tyréns.
The pitched roof has the same rhythm as the façade, creating a subtle figure among the pines.
Precision down to the last detail
Thoughtful materials and carefully chiselled details characterise the small studio where a couple interested in crafts now have space for their hobbies. When they are not working with their hands, there is also space to just sit on the terrace and enjoy the nature around them.
text Johanna Lundeberg photo Victor Johansson
Now the couple has a welcoming 60 square metre studio with a pitched roof and a terrace on each end. The larger one faces west to capture the evening sun and the lovely views of nature, while the smaller one serves as a covered entrance.
»The couple will be able to sit here in the evenings and enjoy their surroundings, but the terrace can also be used as a workspace and as a reception area for welcoming the students who come here. It leads visitors through the main entrance on the end and more or less directly into the craft studio,« says Konrad Krupinski, architect at Krupinski/Krupinska Arkitekter.
a lIttle way south of Stockholm sits a private green plot. Close to amenities and permanent housing but still secluded. It is here, overlooking nature and water, that a couple wanted a studio for their crafting. He loves carpentry and needed a place to work on various wood projects – from timber to finished product. She makes things using a variety of materials, from basket weaving to woodturning. This is primarily a hobby, but she also runs courses in these crafts and wanted a place where both she and her students could improve their skills. »
The other end has a shallower terrace with a carpenter’s bench along the entire façade and connects to the small gravel path that winds up to the house. Here, wood can be unloaded and easily brought in through the rear entrance – from the outside to the inside workspace.
The studio is very simply designed to
The concrete plinth forms a terrace on each end, with the simple floor allowing for work with more robust materials.
accommodate the couple’s keen interest in crafting, based on exactly how they envisaged using the building. Apart from small spaces such as a kitchenette, wardrobe and toilet, all with wooden surfaces, the interior comprises a single large room divided into two separate parts by a large central fireplace, while being openly connected along the sides of the building.
»The couple each have their own sides, their own separate parts, which are connected and allow them to work close to each other but still apart,« says Konrad Krupinski. The architects have chosen to work with a limited palette of materials – wood inside and out, the aforementioned brick fireplace and concrete foundations, with concrete steps chiselled into the bedrock leading up to the terraces, the surface of which is designed to allow the use of rougher and heavier materials.
»It’s a neat little building that sits comfortably in the natural setting despite the rather uneven plot. The pronounced plinth clarifies how the building is placed on the ground, while creating the two terraces. We wanted
to make them robust to encourage heavier work,« says Konrad.
everythIng has been thought through down to the smallest detail, both inside and out, according to Konrad Krupinski. The architects had a free hand in terms of both materials and design, but since the couple themselves know all about craftsmanship, it was important for everyone that it was in the very fabric of the building. On the outside, the board-on-board roof and the façade harmonise with each other.
»We wanted the building to exude craftsmanship, in terms of both materials and execution. The wooden roof and façade share the same rhythm and expression, making precision of paramount importance. We took care to ensure that the details are visible throughout the building, as evident, for example, in the mitred corners,« says Konrad.
It is exactly these details that add a little extra to the studio with its inviting feel, forming a carefully considered whole. However, one difficulty with making the details a prominent feature is that not all
1. The overlap cladding, custom-made in large dimensions, plays a key role in the exterior look, which is enhanced by the fact that the door cladding aligns with the façade.
2. The mitred and rounded corners are one of many details in the studio.
3. The pine posts dividing up the window are part of the frame. The light entering from the north side provides good working conditions.
builders are used to working at such a level, which could have affected the result. Konrad Krupinski believes it is essential to explain to the craftsmen precisely what you want, so that everyone has the same level of ambition even when it comes to small details.
»It can be quite a challenge, but we had skilled craftsmen who quickly understood how important the details were to the project, which was not just about taking the quickest and easiest route. We communicated every detail, and because the clients live nearby and were very invested, they would often be on site having a dialogue with the builders,« says Konrad.
Externally, both the roof and the façade are made of heartwood pine. Through his carpentry contacts, the client managed to find a sawmill that was willing to make the façade’s overlap cladding in exactly the size they wanted – 260 millimetres wide and 34 millimetres thick – which is a crucial part of the external look. The windows and doorways also align with the façade boards. To achieve the monolithic character, the studio lacks gutters. For a while they considered
installing wooden ones, but this proved unnecessary.
The pine windows were custom-made for the project, with the same wooden frame as the entrance doors. Another detail is that the external integrated maple door leading into the storage and utility areas matches up with the façade cladding and is thus barely visible to anyone who doesn’t know it is there.
InsIde, the horIzontal tongue-and-groove pine cladding is treated with hardwax oil to create a feeling of warmth. Fitted horizontally, it continues right up to the ridge of the pitched roof, interrupted only by a shelf above the window, also made of the same material. The ambition was to use natural materials wherever possible, which in practice means right down to the insulation, made using spruce chips from certified forests.
The band of windows running along the entire north face creates pleasant working light, while the pine posts dividing the window into several sections also form part of the structure.
Studio for Two StoCKholm, SwEDEn
architect Krupinski/Krupinska Arkitekter.
structural engineer BKK.
client Private. area 60 sqm. w| kkark.com
»The window frames are hidden behind the building’s posts and built into the wall for the most direct contact with the natural beauty outside. Well-lit workspaces were important, but so was framing the view,« says Konrad.
The south-facing façade is closed, with just a small window to provide some contact with that side. It can also be opened to create a current of air through the building. And in the interior, too, the block flooring was chosen to support the function of the studio.
»It’s a solid spruce block floor, traditionally used in workshops. It’s hardwearing and can withstand heavy loads, which is important in giving the clients the option to use the craft studio however they want,« says Konrad Krupinski.
Architecture follows climate – traditional architecture in the five climate zones
Alexandros Vassileios Emilios
Ioannou–Naoum
Birkhäuser (Eng) 978-3-03562-779-4
9 June | Trä! issue 2
The Nordic region’s largest architecture magazine will soon have a different look! In a new format and with new angles, we will continue to tell the stories behind inspiring wood projects from all over the world, combining reports with technical deep dives and interviews with the people behind the projects.
Get the magazine delivered to your inbox for free. Subscribe here: w| tidningentra.se
Architect Alexandros Ioannou-Naoum has written an exciting book that is highly relevant in the era of climate change. Architecture follows climate is a study of what traditional buildings look like in different parts of the world, spread over five climate zones. The solutions are lowtech, which is inspiring from a sustainability and energy perspective.
The author advocates climate-friendly construction to ensure that future generations can enjoy comfortable homes. The discussion of
existing passive building solutions in terms of design and material choices gives an insight into how we can reduce the climate impact of the built environment.
The book is richly illustrated, with clear explanations and references to relevant research. It feels like a generous book that offers a great deal of knowledge – it should be a must-read for all future-focused architectural and construction firms. w| birkhauser.com
DET HANDLAR OM MER ÄN TRÄSTOMMAR
ÖSTRA STATION UMEÅ
KUND BALTICGRUPPEN
ARKITEKT WINGÅRDHS
ENTREPRENÖR NCC
Vårt mål är att överträffa dina förväntningar. Vi ser varje projekt som en möjlighet att dela med oss av våra kunskaper och vår långa branscherfarenhet. Det kan till exempel handla om att utveckla nya hållbara lösningar, som gör det möjligt att se grönt på framtiden. Läs mer om våra klimatsmarta stomsystem på martinsons.se
Martinsons utvecklar, konstruerar och levererar stomsystem i limträ och KL-trä. Som drivande kraft i projektsamarbeten skapar teamets experter hållbara värden för samtliga berörda.
GRÖNSAMMA PÅBYGGNADER MED KL-TRÄ
Med sin låga vikt, höga bärkapacitet och många hållbarhetsfördelar är KL-trä det ultimata valet vid tillbyggnader. Genom att nyttja det redan byggda kan livslängden förlängas på befintliga fastigheter och orörd mark bevaras, vilket främjar en hållbar stadsutveckling. En grönsam affär som alla tjänar på, helt enkelt. I vårt träindustricenter i Långshyttan
tillverkar vi de största KL-träelementen på marknaden, av råvara från ansvarsfullt brukade skogar i vårt närområde. Upptäck fler möjligheter med vårt KL-trä och grönsamt byggande på setragroup.com/kl-tra
