The City of Helsinki has developed a new wooden building concept that can be easily replicated. Specifically designed to fit into spaces around existing structures, these apartment buildings are compact and environmentally-friendly. The process and designs are freely available to everyone from property owners to suppliers of construction elements.

The new apartment building model has its roots in a similar concept developed between 2014 and 2016. Among other things, the new model benefits from research on similar developments in a number of countries and from lessons learned in the earlier concept. When compared to a typical concrete apartment building, the carbon footprint of a new wooden apartment building is approximately 40 percent smaller.

This is one of many reasons why the city hopes the new concept will help normalise wooden construction.

The concept is also meant to make the land acquisition, zoning, and permitting process smoother for projects that use it. The concept design phase included negotiations with various city authorities to make the entire construction process as simple as possible from the application stage onwards

The concept also targets a reasonable cost level to allow projects to be built with Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA) financing. Even though they are affordable, these buildings are also characterised by superior architecture and bright, spacious apartments

City is looking for a plot in Eastern Helsinki district to construct the concept’s first buildings.

Read the article in Finnish: Puurakenteinen mallikerrostalokonsepti täydennysrakentamiseen – suunnitelmat vapaasti kaikkien hyödynnettävissä

For more information, visit:
https:// www.hel.fi/uutiset/fi/kaupunkiymparisto/ puurakenteinen-mallikerrostalokonseptitaydennysrakentamiseen