Rapid constuction with wooden elements

​Architect Atsushi Ueda has provided help and consultation in getting the required perimts and his company Guest Architects is responsible for the finishing touches of the Metsä Pavilion. ​

Ueda sees a growing importance in using prefabricated materials in construction, and he is looking forward to developing wood construction with prefabricated elements together with Finnish professionals also in the future.

“The design and material of Kerto LVL are very impactful. I hope this will be a good opportunity for others to learn about Finnish wood materials.”

Linnanfältti - Wooden Apartment Buildings 

​Linnanfältti is a modern wooden residential area in the centre of Turku, close to the Turku Castle and the Port of Turku. The area is one of the largest wooden apartment building construction projects in Finland. Some 1,500 people will have homes there.

A wooden Metsä Pavilion in Tokyo during the 2020 Olympic Games

​Metsä Group and Business Finland are joining forces in building a wooden Metsä pavilion to be used in Tokyo during the Olympic games. The pavilion will be built on the grounds of the Finnish Embassy in the centre of Tokyo, Japan.

This pavilion is an example of innovative architecture based on industrially manufactured wooden elements. The building will be made entirely from Metsä Wood’s Kerto® LVL (laminated veneer lumber) elements. The pavilion has been designed by world-renowned Finnish architect Pekka Helin from Helin & Co Architects.

The raw material for the pavilion comes from sustainably grown Finnish forests, owned by Jukka Heikkonen. 

Project Manager Lasse Hietanen, from Finnish AINS Group, is responsible for the structural design of the Metsä Pavilion. The main goal was to create this unique building using as few parts as possible, making the production of Kerto LVL as efficient as possible.

The elements used in Metsä Wood and Business Finland’s Metsä Pavilion were produced at the Timberpoint factory in Loviisa, Finland. CEO and co-founder of Timberpoint Marko Suonpää  highlights that tight-knit collaboration between several professionals made the pavilion come to life.

The low weight of Kerto LVL elements was an advantage in the transport, and the lightness also made onsite handling easy. “The elements could be quickly put together on site,” says Jyrki Huttunen, CEO of Puurakentajat Oy, the company responsible for the erection of the Pavilion in Tokyo. On site, Japanese architect Atsushi Ueda was monitoring the construction and Ueda’s team also installed windows and finished up the interior and the visible surfaces of the Pavilion.

European LVL handbook has been published!

New European LVL handbook is the first comprehensive summary of the properties and end uses of LVL products. It has been compiled and published by the woodworking industry. The handbook is an extensive source of information for designers, engineers and builders.

The LVL handbook was published on September 26, 2019 at the Forum Wood Building Nordic conference in Helsinki. You can download the LVL handbook as pdf. 

The Federation of the Finnish Woodworking Industries and the German Studiengemeinschaft Holzleimbau published on behalf of the LVL producers a joint technical bulletin that specifies the strength classes, tolerances and additional design provisions for LVL. The calculations in the LVL Handbook are based on this bulletin.

The Technical bulletin is available on website https://puutuoteteollisuus.fi/images/pdf/LVL_bulletin_eng.pdf  

Lightweight wood saves on transportation costs and hassle at the construction site

The world’s urban infrastructure will go through major transformation during the next decades. Lighter building materials, such as wood elements, are less costly and more energy efficient to transport and handle on construction site. With engineered wood products like Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber), the construction industry can build faster, lighter and greener.