International-level masterpiece in wooden architecture wins Wood City architectural competition

Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit’s entry “Stories” was chosen as the winner of the architectural competition for the Wood City world-class wooden city quarter to be built by Stora Enso in collaboration with construction company SRV in the Jätkäsaari district of Helsinki. An exceptional and ecologically sustainable solution was sought from Finnish architects through an invitation-only competition for the demanding urban Wood City project, which on completion will exemplify urban wooden construction and the latest Finnish environmentally-friendly construction technology.

“The Stories design gives Wood City every possibility of becoming internationally renowned wooden architecture in line with the aim of the competition. The adjudication panel commended the winning design’s originality based on simplicity, reproducibility and economics over the whole life cycle, and its tailoring to the site. Wood will be a prominent feature of the cityscape, and the panel specially commended its expressive use at street level. The way the wave-like design of the wooden ceiling continues through the facade at ground level is memorable,” says Hannu Kasurinen EVP, Stora Enso Building and Living, and chairman of the adjudication panel.

In the adjudication, special attention was paid to among other things novel architectural expression, functionality of the solutions and their industrial reproducibility, and innovative use of structural wooden construction. The carbon dioxide emissions of the solutions were also evaluated. According to the adjudication panel, all the competition entries exploited the diversity of the construction potential of the area. They were of high standard, and the architects had taken to the task well.

“As a result of the architectural competition, we will build an unprecedented entity in the Jätkäsaari district in Finland. Wood-based solutions will no longer be confined to special projects. Development of regulations will facilitate use of wood in a more flexible way than before in various multi-storey residential, commercial and office projects. We will have the opportunity to design and build living spaces in a novel, sustainable way,” says SRV Deputy CEO Timo Nieminen.

The winning architects, Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit, will be the designers of the Wood City office and hotel site and designated as the principal designer according to the Land Use and Building Act. The Helsinki Housing Production Department (ATT) will separately arrange tendering for design and construction of the residential buildings to be built in the quarter under the city plan resulting from the architectural competition.

Wood City will be located by the entrance to the Jätkäsaari district in Helsinki in its northeast corner. Stora Enso’s structural Urban MultiStorey™ concept based on massive CLT boards and elements will be used in the wooden structures following further development jointly with SRV, which is responsible for construction of the quarter. The wood-based urban quarter, so far the largest of its kind in Finland, will include office, residential, hotel and business buildings. The total floor area of the buildings will be 28 000 square metres. In design and construction of the buildings, priority will be given to solutions that improve energy efficiency. The environmental objectives for the quarter will be achieved by among other things the use of wood in structural materials and the overall energy efficiency of the project in use.

Construction of Wood City in accordance with the plans will start in early 2014. First to be built will be a residential building and a car park, which are expected to be completed in late 2015. Office and hotel completion is scheduled by the end of 2016.

For further information, please contact:
Hannu Kasurinen, EVP, Stora Enso Building and Living, tel. +358 2046 21222
Matti Mikkola, SVP, Building Solutions, Stora Enso Building and Living, tel. +358 2046 21710
Timo Nieminen, Deputy CEO, SRV, tel. +358 201 455 244
Päivi Kauhanen, SVP, Communication and Sustainability, Stora Enso Building and Living, tel. +358 2046 21292
Taneli Hassinen, VP, Communications and Brand Management, SRV, tel. +358 201 455 200

Competition entry pictures and presentations:
http://media2.digtator.fi/digtator//public/992a1600fa9a485bdab6f5c72ee0f41e/view?folder_id=1005113
www.woodcity.fi

www.storaenso.com
www.storaenso.com/buildingandliving
www.srv.fi

Wood City architectural competition
Stora Enso and SRV arranged the architectural competition from 16 February to 14 August 2012 to design the quarter in collaboration with the City of Helsinki. Six firms of Finnish architects were chosen to participate in this invitation-only competition: Arkkitehtitoimisto SARC, Arkkitehtityöhuone Artto-Palo-Rossi-Tikka, Arkkitehtitoimisto Lahdelma-Mahlamäki, Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit, Verstas Arkkitehdit and JKMM Arkkitehdit.

The competition adjudication panel comprised Professor Pekka Heikkinen of Aalto University, Head of the City Planning Authority Tuomas Rajajärvi and its Project Manager Matti Kaijansinkko, Managing Director of The Helsinki Housing Production Department Sisko Marjamaa, SAFA architect Jyrki Tasa as the independent expert nominated by the competitors, and representing the companies that arranged the competition Stora Enso Building and Living’s Hannu Kasurinen, EVP, and Matti Mikkola, SVP, Building Solutions, and SRV’s Deputy CEO Timo Nieminen and Project Development Manager Juha Toimela.

SRV is an innovative construction and project development company that provides end-to-end solutions and assumes customer-focused responsibility for the development, construction and commercialisation of projects. The shares of SRV Group Plc are quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (SRV1V). SRV has 1 000 employees. In 2011, SRV’s revenue was EUR 672 million.

Stora Enso is the global rethinker of the paper, biomaterials, wood products and packaging industry. We always rethink the old and expand to the new to offer our customers innovative solutions based on renewable materials. Stora Enso employs some 30 000 people worldwide, and our sales in 2011 amounted to EUR 11.0 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY) in the International OTCQX over-the-counter market. 

STORA ENSO OYJ