Offsite manufacturer VVR Wood benefits from the partnership with Metsä Wood

Metsä Wood seeks long term partnerships with local offsite manufacturers, because the construction industry is different in every country. Tero Vesanen from Finnish wood element manufacturer VVR Wood praises Metsä Wood’s dedication to sharing expertise in developing offsite construction together. Kerto LVL-based elements bring many benefits to offsite construction – light structures reduce transport costs and are fast to install, which reduces building time. Wooden elements also provide a fast route to greener construction.

VVR Wood and Metsä Wood have been in collaboration for several years. Tero Vesanen, CEO of VVR Wood, thinks Metsä Wood is a great partner.

“We develop new building systems based on Kerto LVL elements with Metsä Wood, and get support in technical questions,” says Vesanen.

VVR Wood has become Finland’s biggest supplier of wooden multi-storey apartment buildings. It produces wooden elements for residential and industrial wood buildings using Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber) products. The product portfolio also includes Kerto-Ripa, the enhanced design system for roof and floor elements, a technology developed by Metsä Wood.

A recent example of VVR Wood using Kerto LVL-based elements is a block of four multi-storey apartment buildings constructed in Linnanfältti, Turku in 2020–21. It is one of the largest wooden apartment building construction projects in Finland. The wall, floor and roof elements built with Kerto LVL were manufactured at VVR Wood’s factory. VVR Wood was also responsible for the structural design.

Demand in Scandinavia is growing

At present, VVR Wood operates in Finland and Norway, and is about to expand to Sweden. Kerto LVL attracts interest, because it can be used in the same applications as CLT, which is currently the best-known engineered wood product in Sweden.

Kerto LVL is made of laminated 3-mm-thick veneers, whereas CLT consists of cross-laminated boards of sawn timber. Kerto LVL has a better strength-to-weight ratio than CLT, which enables thinner dimensions and wider spans.

“The position of wood construction in Sweden is strong. Nowadays, the focus is on the industrial efficiency that can be achieved with prefabricated wood elements,” says Vesanen.

Kerto LVL has many benefits in element construction

Vesanen highlights that Kerto LVL is a lightweight yet strong material with excellent workability. Lightness makes construction faster both off site and on site, and reduces transport costs. Wooden elements are also a sustainable choice when it comes to helping the construction business reducing their carbon footprint.
“Getting Kerto LVL cut to a customer-specific size for our factory is important to us, as it enables us to minimise product and production waste,” adds Vesanen. 

Watch the new Talking Wood video where Tero Vesanen shares his thoughts on VVR Wood’s cooperation with Metsä Wood and the prefabricated wood elements business. Images: https://databank.metsagroup.com/l/BTpP-LDLcx9x

For more information, please contact:

Viivi Kylämä, Marketing Manager, Metsä Wood
tel. +358 40 820 9850, viivi.kylama@metsagroup.com

For press information in UK, please contact:

Matt Trace, Director, Defero Communications
tel. 07828663988, matt@deferouk.co.uk

Metsä Wood
www.metsawood.com

Metsä Wood is one of the leading European producers of engineered wood products. Metsä Wood is committed to serving construction, industrial and distribution customer with  competitive and environmentally friendly wood products. Metsä Wood’s  products include Kerto® LVL, plywood and other wood products.

Metsä Wood's sales in 2019 were EUR 0.4 billion, and currently employing approximately 1,500 people. Metsä Wood is part of Metsä Group.

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