Wooden multi-storey apartment buildings in Linnanfältti, close to the centre of Turku, Finland are being built with Kerto® LVL-based elements. A residential building constructed from wooden elements can rise in less than half the time compared to a similar kind of concrete building. With Metsä Wood’s Kerto LVL-based elements (laminated veneer lumber) buildings are fast, light and green to construct.
Four multi-storey wooden residential buildings in Linnanfältti are made of Kerto LVL-based wooden elements. The project's developer is Kruunuasunnot and NCC is responsible for the construction. The structural planning and element manufacturing are done by VVR Wood. The CEO Tero Vesanen believes that the world is at a turning point with wood construction. The use of prefabricated wooden elements has clear impacts on productivity.
”As the construction work relocates from site to factory, the quality increases in dry conditions, work gets done more efficiently and waste is minimized,” says Vesanen.
Two of these three-storey and four-storey residential buildings are ready. The third is in the interior construction phase, and the construction of the fourth building has started. Altogether, there will be 128 cozy homes.
Fast construction with wooden elements
“A residential building constructed from Kerto LVL elements can rise in less than half the time compared to a similar kind of concrete building”, says Vesanen and adds that wood elements are 4-5 times lighter than concrete elements.
It took just seven weeks to build the structural constructions of the third, a four-storey apartment building in Linnanfältti. ”It took one week to build each floor. As the wooden elements are light, assembly has been done with a bridge crane, which is integrated to a weather protection cover,” says Jari Granqvist, Foreman responsible for wooden residential construction at NCC, the constructor of the Linnanfältti project.
Linnanfältti, homely wooden neighbourhood
Linnanfältti is situated very close to the city centre of Turku. Some 1,500 people will have homes there. City of Turku has enabled construction actors to experiment wood construction and build a new urban area.
"The project has been successful, and visitors call the area pleasant. It is a distinctive area with colourful buildings, quarter courtyards and soon also public art," says Mika Rajala, Architect at the City of Turku. He leads the steering group of the project.