Winner of Finnforest Modular Office design competition now chosen

The winning design in Finnforest Corporation's Modular Office architectural
competition was chosen on Tuesday 26.8. The name of the winner will be declared
on Thursday 4.9 in a ceremony that will contribute to the 50th anniversary
celebrations of Tapiola, the Helsinki suburb of international “garden city”
fame that is home to Finnforest's head office. 

The architectural design that was selected is described as being impressive and
having particularly fine lines. The principle of modular building on a large
scale has also been explored in its conception. The competition jury reports
that the winning proposal includes several noteworthy responses to the
challenges posed in the competition aims and that its architecture is
emphatically based on wood materials. 

The architectural competition for Finnforest's Modular Office project started
up in January this year. The competition jury considers that the best proposals
are integrated wholes that combine high quality, permanent aesthetic value and
appealing freshness. Most of the entries took an approach that respected the
spirit of Tapiola's architectural heritage while nevertheless expressing
essential themes of our own times. The jury believes that the various proposals
provide numerous ideas worthy of development as well as models for
wood-structured multi-storey office blocks of the future. 

The aim of the Modular Office project is to create an office block in Tapiola
whose construction is based on the use of wood and wood-based building
materials and solutions. The main criteria for evaluation of proposals were
their architectural qualities and appropriateness for the urban surroundings,
ecological and environmental aspects, suitability for industrial production,
and the competitiveness of the building with regard to investment and running
costs. 

Finnforest's Modular Office competition was arranged in the form of an open
invitational architecture competition in the Nordic countries. The aim was to
find a design for a high-quality functional and flexible office building which
would feature the characteristic qualities of wood as a structural building
material for an urban milieu in an exemplary manner. The competition would help
to discover integrated wood-based structural solutions for intermediate floors,
external cladding and interior walls in office buildings. At the same time it
would assist in finding models for natural combinations of other building
materials with wood structures in ways that are aesthetically attractive,
technically efficient and economical. 

A total of 61 architectural offices expressed interest in the competition and
ten were invited to take part in the competition itself. Participants from
Finland were ARK-house Arkkitehdit Oy Erholtz-Kareoja-Herranen-Huttunen,
Arkkitehtuuritoimisto Heikkinen-Komonen Oy, Arkkitehtitoimisto Lahdelma &
Mahlamäki Oy, Arkkitehtitoimisto Laiho-Pulkkinen-Rainio Oy, Arkkitehtitoimisto
Sarc Oy and Arkkitehtitoiminta Oy Kai Wartiainen, Helin & Co Arkkitehdit, and
Arkkitehtitoimisto Tuomo Siitonen Oy; from Sweden Arkitekt Rolf Bergsten; and
from Denmark Kim Utzon Arkitekter. 

The competition jury was chaired by Olavi Louko, Espoo City Director of
Environmental and Technical Services, and its other members were Espoo City
Planning Manager Kristiina Peltomaa, and Finnforest's Construction Director
Lauri Palojärvi, Corporate Communications Director Jukka-Pekka Vuori and
Engineered Wood Division Director Heikki Castrén, together with Modular Office
Project Architect Jarmo Pulkkinen, Association of Finnish Architects (SAFA)
Competition Secretary Paula Huotelin, and Juha Ilonen as the competitors'
representative. 

Finnforest's comment on the aims of the Modular Office project

Finnforest Construction Director Lauri Palojärvi, himself a member of the
competition jury, sums up: 

“The wood products industry has traditionally been seen as a supplier of raw
materials. Today, however, high levels of technological expertise and product
processing have become prominent features of our industry's range of wood-based
products and services. Take a look, for example, at wood and wood-based
structural components such as floors, ceilings, exterior cladding and interior
walls, which are both cost-effective and competitive compared with similar
structures using other materials. Not to mention the uniquely
environment-friendly qualities of wood and wood products, which are becoming so
increasingly important for buyers and users. The Modular Office building will
be an eye-opener, a showpiece for today's wood products industry.” 

Further information: Finnforest Construction Director Lauri Palojärvi
Phone: +358 (0) 500 507 447