Puurakentajat appointed contractor for the Katajanokka Laituri construction project in Helsinki

Puurakentajat Oy, Press release 22.12.2022 at 9.30 a.m. EET

Puurakentajat Group Oy (Puurakentajat Rakennus Oy), the Finnish expert in solid wood construction, has been appointed contractor for the Katajanokka Laituri construction project in Helsinki. The aim of the commercial building is to be both carbon neutral and a masterpiece of Finnish wood construction. The developer of the project is Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company. The building will be completed in 2024 and it will serve as Stora Enso's headquarters, as a hotel of the S Group, and as a public meeting place in one of central Helsinki's finest marine locations, Katajanokka.

For Puurakentajat, installation of the wood frame starts in early 2023. The building is expected to open for the public in the summer of 2024. On-site construction work began in 2021 with the demolition of the old warehouse building and groundwork. Haahtela is the main contractor with responsibility for project management. Puurakentajat will supply and install the wood frame of the building.

The four-storey building will have a roof terrace and recreational area as well as technical facilities and parking in the basement. The building will have 7,500 square meters of office and commercial space and 160 hotel rooms. The above-ground frame of the building will be mainly of wood, with some complementary parts made of steel. The facades will be of glass. The building will be certified with the LEED Platinum environmental certificate.

"The ambitious goal of the Katajanokka Laituri project is to build a carbon-neutral commercial space, which uses energy solely from renewable sources. A LEED Platinum environmental certificate, which takes a wide range of sustainability aspects into consideration, will be applied for the building. All parties of the construction project must commit to our goal from the very start. We are pleased to appoint Puurakentajat, an experienced and skilled Finnish wood constructor, as contractor of the wood frame," said Sari Raunio, Property Development Director at Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company.

"We are grateful that Puurakentajat has been chosen as supplier of the wood frame of the building. We construct ecological and high-quality low-carbon buildings of solid wood. According to our estimates, the wood frame of this project binds around 5,700 tons of CO2-eq. This is only possible with a solid wood solution. Thanks to the beautiful features of wood, we are also contributing to beautiful and prominent architecture at a central location in Helsinki. We are very proud of this," said Mikko Leino, CEO of Puurakentajat.

LEED is an American certification system that aims to reduce the negative environmental impact of construction and real estate. Key considerations in the certification include, for example, the plot and location of the building, efficiency of water use, energy efficiency, material efficiency and the quality of the indoor climate. Read more: https://www.usgbc.org/leed

Website of construction project pages: https://katajanokanlaituri.fi/

More information:

Puurakentajat Group Oy, CEO Mikko Leino
Tel. +358 40 551 4055
mikko.leino[at]puurakentajat.fi

Mutual pension insurance company Varma, Property Development Director Sari Raunio
Tel. +358 50 526 6886
Sari.Raunio[at]varma.fi

Puurakentajat Group Oy is a Finnish group specializing in wood technology and construction with decades of experience in solid wood construction and renovation. We design, produce and build ecologically sustainable and healthy single-family houses, apartment blocks, schools and day-care centres, among others. The use of solid wood elements enables new architectural solutions and enhances construction, both economically and from the viewpoint of the environment and health. We construct solid wood buildings where people feel good. www.puurakentajat.fi

The mutual employment pension insurance company Varma is a responsible and solvent investor of pension funds. The company is responsible for the pension security of approximately 957,000 people in the private sector. In 2021, Varma's contribution income was EUR 5.6 billion, and the company paid EUR 6.2 billion in pensions. The value of Varma's investments at the end of September 2022 was 56.4 billion euros. www.varma.fi