ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND: TAMEDIA OFFICE BUILDING, The headquarters of the Tamedia media company is a seven-storey building in the heart of Zürich. The building’s wooden facade makes it stand out. Wood has also been used inside. The need for heating energy has been reduced in several ways, including structures that prevent cold air from entering the interior. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: FORTÉ Upon its completion in 2012, the ten-storey Forté with its CLT-struc- tures was the world’s highest wooden building. The building contains around 700 tonnes of wood. In addition to apartments, Forté houses business facilities.
“Construction is always about business. The price must also be competitive for wood construction to be a viable option for construction companies.”
dows. Modular units are box-like structures with facto- ry-installed surface materials, skirting, fixtures, appliances and building technology. This enables large-scale wood construction. “New technologies have made a developmental leap possible and it is now being integrated into urban con- struction,” says Mikkola. Political decisions are also a strong driver of wood con- struction. Regulations to promote the use of wood have been implemented in France, among other countries. Green construction is supported through city and town plans. The major change will happen when the low-carbon approach and the reduction of emissions are included in building regulations. Builders will have to use calculations to show where the raw materials come from, how much energy their manufacture and transport consume and how much emissions they generate. At that point, wood will have the upper hand. "This will promote wood construction immensely and make it more common,” says Karjalainen. According to Mikkola, the wave of wood construction in the public sector has also increased the popularity of wood in residential construction. He says this to be European phenomenon. Over the past ten years, a large number of schools and day-care centres have been built from wood. Concern for indoor air quality has significantly contrib- uted to the wave of public wood construction. “Demand has gradually spread from the public sector. More and more residents are wondering whether they could also live in wooden houses. Consumers’ wishes and decisions are reflected back in public construction.” The future looks bright for wood. Environmental aware- ness is increasing, and interest in the materials used in construction is growing throughout the value chain and in housing solutions. Wood is not only a carbon storage, but also a renewable and genuinely recyclable material that offers tremendous opportunities in both new and renovation construction. •
erations in densely built environments. Mikkola says that processes to use prefabricated products on construction sites have been developed in London, a city known as a forerunner in wooden high-rise construction. This has made construction up to 30–40 per cent faster. “Prefabrication is key here, a shift from construction to installation. Although there are a large number of argu- ments in favour of wood construction that are related to climate change, comfort and architecture, the price will ultimately determine if a concept is a winner.” Karjalainen agrees: “Construction is always about business. The price must also be competitive for wood construction to be a viable option for construction companies.” INDUSTRIAL COMPONENTS CREATE NEW OPPORTUNITIES Engineered wood products – that is, construction com- ponents made from wood – have developed enormous- ly over the past 50 years. These include glulam, which became popular in construction in the 1950s, as well as laminated veneer lumber (LVL), which was introduced in construction in the 70s, and cross-laminated timber (CLT), which was developed for industrial production in the mid-90s. In addition, the window and door industries use finger-jointed timber. New methods enable construction component manu- facturers to break down wood materials down into small parts and reassemble them for the intended purpose of use. This enables equipping the components with the de- sired features while also eliminating vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Glulam, CLT and LVL allow for longer spans in construc- tion. Thanks to their easy jointing techniques, airtightness, frame bracing and minimal deflection, CLT and LVL are also competitive in wooden high-rises. PREFABRICATION ACCELERATES CONSTRUCTION New high-rises are built from elements processed in fac- tories. Large elements are ready walls with doors and win-
JOENSUU, FINLAND: LIGHTHOUSE JOENSUU
Finland’s tallest wooden apart- ment building, nearly 50 metres, houses 117 apartments for stu- dents. The building was completed in 2018, and it won the 2019 Wood Award. According to the jury, this 14-storey wooden high-rise is groundbreaking in terms of the development of tall wood con- struction.
TURKU, FINLAND: LINNANFÄLTTI
This wooden residential area in Turku is a pilot project of a wood construction promotion pro- gramme approved by the Finnish government. It is expected to be completed in the early 2020s. The goal is to build a low, wooden, urban residential area in the vicin- ity of Turku Castle.
Tamedia’s new office building in Zürich.
Markku Karjalainen Professor of Civil Engineering at Tampere University. He is well known as an expert and a trailblazer in wood construction in Finland.
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