Naava Chalet

Log structures are an increasingly popular choice for ever larger buildings. The use of laminated wood makes it easier to use logs in taller buildings.

The four-storey Naava Chalet is a log building perched on a cliff in a central part of the Ähtäri tourism area. This hotel is a further development to the area, where the first building phases consisted of villas and their associated conference and spa facilities. The chalet blends into the rest of the area’s relatively low building stock, creating a uniform and recognisable whole.

The chalet has 16 holiday apartments, each of which has a view over Lake Hankavesi. The apartments vary in size from 43m2 one-bedroom apartments to 108m2 penthouses.

Central European influences can be seen in the architecture. The aim was to create a chalet-style experience where modern elements such as expansive glass surfaces and skylights blend into a more rugged material and design language.

The building’s log structures were constructed using laminated spruce logs, and the façades were also made with painted logs. The intermediate floors of the higher storeys are supported by lattice brackets made from wood and steel, and the ceiling is made from laminated beams. The ground floor that rests against the cliffside is made from concrete, as are the lift shafts.

The combination of an open-minded owner and the building’s fire safety design enables an atypically extensive use of wood surfaces in the apartments, hallways, and even the façade. Structures have been left exposed where such a look was considered justified. The building is equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing system and a fire alarm system.

The sturdy structure of the laminated log walls allows glass to be used quite extensively. The façades of the stairwell and the water-facing 2-storey apartments in the centre of the building are made almost entirely out of glass, as are the ends of the penthouses. Thanks to these large glass surfaces, the surrounding landscape and the changing seasons become part of the interior.