Puurakentajat and Stora Enso strengthen partnership

Puurakentajat Group Oy Press release 1 February 2022 at 10.30 EET

Puurakentajat and Stora Enso have worked together for about ten years and the partnership continues with several new projects. New schools, an event centre by the sea, and apartments in a historical urban block are being built in partnership. All from solid wood.

Wood construction is strongly on the rise in Finland and worldwide driven by climate and health related concerns. Wood construction supports achievement of climate goals and reduces the use of non-renewable materials. Solid wood buildings improve well-being by introducing nature to the urban environment. Wooden surfaces increase comfort of indoor spaces. Several studies have shown that interiors with wood surfaces decrease stress levels and blood pressure, as well as improve concentration.

“The modern CLT and LVL solid wood products made by Stora Enso enable versatile construction, replacing construction materials made from non-renewable raw materials. While carbon is stored in the solid wood and remains sequestered in wooden buildings for a long time, new forests are growing binding even more carbon dioxide,” commented Antto Kauhanen, development manager at Stora Enso.

Puurakentajat Group, a Finnish group specialising in wood technology, has several decades' worth of experience of solid wood construction and renovation. For the last ten years, Puurakentajat has worked closely with Stora Enso.

“We are Stora Enso’s largest Finnish client for solid wood elements, as well as their partner. We have supported them in developing their information systems for CLT and LVL construction, and cooperated in product development for new housing concepts for many years,” said Mikko Leino, CEO of Puurakentajat.

“Puurakentajat is Finland’s most experienced company that specializes in solid wood construction. Our cooperation has developed successfully through dozens of completed projects. Over the last few years, our cooperation has intensified significantly as Finland’s wood construction market has become increasingly more attractive. We need skilled partners in the construction value chain with whom we can respond to the growing demand for wood construction,” added Antto Kauhanen.

Four large new solid wood sites at the starting line

Puurakentajat has four significant new construction sites starting in different parts of Finland. CLT solid wood elements have already been purchased from Stora Enso and the frames will be assembled on site during the first quarter of this year.

“We work with all of Finland’s CLT solid wood suppliers. For this project we needed large quantities of wood in one delivery and we therefore selected a supplier who could handle the required quantity and delivery timetable, which is about 250 cubic metres per week,” Leino said.

The sites are all new: Helsinki School of Natural Sciences, Kyrkfjärden school in Inkoo, As Oy Portinvartija in Turku and the Kotka event centre.

The Helsinki School of Natural Sciences in Kumpula will be a five-storey building including basement, a total of about 5290 building gross square metres (BGSM). The frame solution will be a CLT and timber frame system, which will require about 1800 cubic metres of solid wood. The customer’s ambition is to build an energy and lifecycle efficient low-carbon building, a learning environment that supports the growth and development of the youth.

Jaakko Keppo of the architect AFKS is familiar with the diverse nature of CLT construction and the architectural solutions it enables.

“The School of Natural Sciences, rational by its nature, will be located in an urban science district. It will have simple, uninsulated and damage resistant CLT external walls, which support the building’s long lifecycle. The external walls of solid wood will also help stiffen the building, adding flexibility by freeing up the timber-framed interior from separate stiffening partition walls. The CLT-concrete jointed intermediate floors have been measured to carry twice the required load, increasing flexibility. The building is Finland’s first five-storey school building made of wood and the project shows that CLT can be used as a construction material even for such challenging sites,” said Keppo.

Another project that has already begun is the Kyrkfjärden school. This two-storey building’s total area is about 3130 BGSM and the amount of solid wood required for the project is about 1500 cubic metres. The customer wants to offer students a healthy, safe, damage-resistant and architecturally high-level school building, which truly fits into the cultural environment by the sea.

“CLT meets the demands of customers and the environment in many ways. Wood is a pleasant and traditional material which is wonderfully suited as interior material for a school. Wood has strong ties to tradition, and CLT is a both durable and easily shaped construction material. Solid wood structures have a “rustic” simplicity, are damage-resistant and dense, suitable even for the rough conditions by the sea,” added Keppo.

Puurakentajat will also build the wood apartment buildings, As Oy Portinvartija, in Turku’s historical centre using Stora Enso’s solid wood. The on-site ground and foundation work for the buildings have already begun. The wooden apartment buildings of over 4,400 square metres will have 58 apartments as well as commercial space on the street level and underground parking. The amount of solid wood needed for this project is about 1300 cubic metres.

Puurakentajat will begin the construction of the event centre Satama Areena in Kantasatama, Kotka next spring, with a frame made up of solid wood glulam beams, CLT solid wood walls and LVL ribbed slabs. The amount of solid wood needed is about 1500 cubic metres. Leino commented on the significance of Satama Areena for the City of Kotka: 

“The event centre is a huge project by the sea, an impressive solid wood structure with a sloped roof. We will be creating a building that raises the entire city’s architectural profile.”

Further information:

Puurakentajat Group Oy, CEO Mikko Leino

Tel. + 358 40 551 4055 

mikko.leino@puurakentajat.fi

Stora Enso, development manager Antto Kauhanen

Tel. +358 40 5455295

antto.kauhanen@storaenso.com

Puurakentajat Group is a Finnish woodtech and CLT -construction company with decades of experience in solid wood construction and renovation. We design, produce and build ecologically sustainable and healthy residential properties, apartment buildings and e.g. nurseries and schools. Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) construction enables modern architectural solutions and contributes to economic, environmental and health efficiencies. We build solid wood buildings where people feel well. www.puurakentajat.fi

Stora Enso is a global supplier of packaging, biomaterials, wood products and renewable products in the paper industry, as part of the bioeconomy. We believe that everything that is produced from non-renewable materials today can be produced from wood tomorrow. The group employs about 23,000 people and makes sales in over 50 countries. In 2020, our turnover was EUR 8.6 billion. The prices of Stora Enso’s shares are determined by Nasdaq Helsinki Oy (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm AB (STE A, STE R). In addition, Stora Enso’s ADRs (SEOAY) are traded in the United States. www.storaenso.com/investors