Wood City is a new sustainable project completed in early 2021, a new gate to the Jätkäsaari area on Helsinki’s waterfront
The project, by Finnish firm AOA Anttinen Oiva Architects, winner of the competition organized by Stora Enso, construction company SRV and the city of Helsinki in 2012, alternates open and closed buildings to create green spaces, offer panoramic views of the city and the sea, and have as much natural light as possible.
Wood City covers an area of about 34,000 square meters and includes two residential buildings, an office building, some stores and a hotel (the latter to be completed in 2023). For the eight-story buildings, a variety of building systems using solid wood were adopted. The three-story garage, on the other hand, is in reinforced concrete to meet fire regulations.
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Wood, in different forms and shades of color, dominates in the project of Wood City and strongly characterizes Helsinki’s urban landscape. The exterior façades feature a cladding that over time will gradually become gray. On the other side, the interior of residential and office buildings is clad with wood panels in warmer tones.
The structure of the office building, the largest and the tallest in Finland and Northern Europe, was built using a timber construction system based on LVL products by Stora Enso. Precast pillars, beams and floor panels combine with reinforced concrete in the basement, on the ground floor and in the vertical central shafts to meet fire regulations. Custom parametric design tools made it possible to create of the variable and undulating shapes and surfaces of the ceiling on the ground floor. [Txt Arianna Callocchia – Photo Tuomas Uusheimo]
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