Inno4Tree Field Trip in Helsinki 8.-9.11.2022

Tuesday 8.11.2022

Viikin kirkko, Agronominkatu 5, 00790 Helsinki

First, Inno4Tree visited Viikki Church, located nearby to the SYKE offices at the Viikki campus. The Church, completed in 2005, is unique as it is one of the very few modern timber churches in Finland. It is entirely built from wood! The exterior is clad in axe split aspen shingles to create a naturally water repellent surface and the densely clustered exposed structural beams evokes the atmosphere of being in a Finnish forest.

Asunto Oy Helsingin Karnevaali, Kuninkaantammi (Kuninkaantammenkierto), Asetelmankatu 2

Housing company Helsingin Karnevaali is a wooden apartment building which is currently under construction with an estimated completion in June 2023. It is an energy efficient building with 33 modern wooden apartments surrounding an enclosed courtyard. As an interesting detail, the staircases of the building have a wood-based structure, which is rarely seen in apartment buildings.

Honkasuo residential area (Honkasuontie); Honkasuon päiväkoti (Perhosenkierto), Log terrace house

In the new residential community of Honkasuo all residential buildings are made of wood. The area exhibits an interesting and varying selection of wooden architecture from single-family houses to multi-storey apartment buildings.

The Honkasuo day-care centre is expected to be completed in June 2023. The building has a wooden structure, and it includes a section with a green roof brightening up the neighbourhood.

A colourful wooden terrace house made of massive logs is a unique project under construction. The logs are of Finnish origin and were hand-carved to create an appearance of traditional log houses. The project aims to produce climate-friendly and carbon negative housing which are modifiable and will stand the test of time.

Tapiolan Sydänpuu, Tuulikuja 2 Espoo (ex: Finnforest modular offices)

The Modular office design was created for an architectural competition held by Finnforest Corporation. At its completion in 2005, the building was the tallest wood-structured office building in Europe. The building incorporates a wide range of wood-based industrial solutions. The service life goal of its structures was originally set to be more than 100 years.

HOAS Tuuliniitty 3, Tapiola

Tuuliniitty was the first wood building commissioned by the Helsinki Student Housing Foundation HOAS, and construction was completed in 2021. The 13-storey apartment block is located in Tapiola, a suburb of Espoo, and is Finland’s second highest wood framed apartment building. It is the tallest building built entirely out of CLT box elements to date. The apartments were built off site in Kuhmo and arrived on site already featuring components such as the final surface materials, fixtures and household appliances.

LÖYLY, Hernesaarenranta 4, Helsinki

Löyly is a public sauna complex built in 2016 and includes a restaurant section as well as open sea views with a swimming opportunity. The wooden façade is made of an innovative Finnish product utilising waste wood from plywood industry. Löyly is both a tourist attraction as well as a meeting place loved by locals.

Wednesday, 9.11.2022

WoodCity, Jätkäsaarenlaituri 1, 00180 Helsinki

WoodCity is a new wooden construction site in the Jätkäsaari area on Helsinki’s waterfront. Wood City covers approximately 34,000 square meters and includes two residential buildings, an office building, some shops and a hotel (to be completed 2023). Since 2021, the office building has been the headquarters of Super Cell (the mobile game developers behind Clash of Clans) and is the largest and tallest wood office in Finland and Northern Europe. It is constructed using a timber construction system based on LVL products by Stora Enso.

Pikku-Finlandia, Karamzininranta 4

The wooden Little Finland (Pikku-Finlandia) building serves as a temporary event centre and meeting place while the Finlandia Hall is being renewed. The unique wooden building was designed by architect students from Aalto University. The building is intended to be relocated later and to be reused and serve as temporary facilities for schools or other renovation projects.

Helsingin keskustakirjasto Oodi, Töölönlahdenkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki

According to its architect “Oodi is one of the freest buildings in Helsinki, or even the Nordic Countries”. It is Helsinki’s new central library for a modern era. It’s pretty awesome! Other think so too, as it was awarded the “best library in the world” award in 2019 by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. The building features a striking spruce façade and the building itself comprises glass and steel structures. It was designed by ALA Architects who won the open international architecture competition for the Central Library in 2013. Construction started in 2015 and was completed in 2018.

Photo: Kuvio