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Stora Enso News
Stora Enso Drives Sustainable Urban Development with Mass Timber Solutions
Stora Enso revolutionizes construction through prefabricated mass timber kits, advancing low-carbon urban projects worldwide while setting new standards in regulatory compliance, financing models, & streamlined construction.
www.storaenso.com
Arboretum in Nanterre, France.
Stockholm Wood City, set to be the world’s largest wood city, is the latest example of how a prefabricated mass timber kit is transforming urban development. This upcoming landmark in Sweden is one of several standout mass timber placemaking developments being developed from a mass timber standardised kit of parts.
Other standouts that opened this year include, 2024 Dezeen winner Wisdome Stockholm, Cederhusen (ByggPartner), Mälarterrassen, Slussen (Woodconstruction Sweden AB), and Stora Enso’s new head office, Katajanokan Laituri, Finland’s largest mass timber building, regenerating Helsinki’s harbourfront.
It is not just Scandinavia. In France this year, WO2’s Arboretum, and Bouygues’ Six Degrés are entire new urban spaces built with a Sylva™ kit.
The rise of mass timber
The rise in large-scale mass timber developments is driven by bold and creative collaborations between developers and municipalities. The projects reflect the growing number of people who are choosing to live, work, and play in neighbourhoods with small carbon footprints.
Shifts in financing models, recent regulatory changes, and advances in prefabrication underpin these developments to achieve the climate benefits building in wood offers developers and cities. Mass timber lowers buildings’ embodied carbon footprint and stores carbon within their structure. This helps cities immediately reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and developers reach their ambitious targets.
This positive impact is instantaneous (not some time off in the future for 2030 or 2050) because engineered wood acts as a natural carbon capsule, storing carbon after removing CO₂ from the atmosphere while the trees were growing in sustainably managed forests.
Financing large-scale projects
The surge in development is partly due to shifts in financing models for building greener. A recent podcast on financing the green transition, “The Money Issue”, with Professor Greg Clark, who advises over 400 cities on the issue, describes the explosion in innovative financial models advancing lower emission developments. These models are moving us away from business-as-usual financing methods and government policies that facilitate and subsidize unsustainable building practices.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
Clark explains how local leaders and city planners are playing a crucial role in driving investment towards sustainable urban development. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and place leadership are becoming more common, pooling resources and sharing risks to make green projects more viable. Additionally, impact investing is on the rise, with investors increasingly looking to fund projects that generate positive social and environmental impacts alongside financial returns. Initiatives such as monetizing the carbon stored in buildings are part of this trend.
Regulatory drivers
Gregory Richards, policy and regulations director at Stora Enso, notes key regulatory actions making lower-emission buildings ‘the default choice’. Governments are increasingly regulating the emissions from buildings, including so-called embodied emissions from manufacturing building materials and the construction process itself. In France, Denmark and the Netherlands – and soon the entire European Union – governments are placing limits on building emissions. Such actions support the use of low-emission and carbon-storing materials – especially wood.
Streamlined construction
Advances in the kit of parts are also helping make lower-emission buildings ‘the default choice’. Instead of developers having to source various elements like glulam, laminated veneer lumber or Rib Panels from multiple suppliers, you can now get everything you need in a single kit.
This process was further streamlined in 2024 when Stora Enso opened the world’s largest fully automated coating line. This significantly increased the capacity for building at scale with mass timber, as elements can now arrive with protective coatings preapplied, ready to install immediately.
Kvarter 7 in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo: ©Atrium Ljungberg AB
In Stockholm’s Wood City, Kvarter 7 exemplifies how Sylva can be used to create low-carbon urban living spaces. This residential development utilizes Sylva CLT Walls, Floors and Roofs and GLT Beams and Columns to construct energy-efficient apartments very quickly.
In Finland, Stora Enso’s new head office, Katajanokan Laituri, has set a new standard for LCA-driven design and construction. This 23,000 square meter landscraper / horizontal skyscraper builds on Helsinki’s decade-long effort with their Wood City project. Wood City Helsinki in the Jätkäsaari quarter, now home to 17,000 residents and Supercell’s Head Office, exemplifies this transformation.
There are many other examples in Stora Enso’s growing references. These shifts in economics and regulations, mixed with advances in prefabrication, are proving to be the perfect tonic for everyone who wants to build right.
www.storaenso.com
Stockholm Wood City, set to be the world’s largest wood city, is the latest example of how a prefabricated mass timber kit is transforming urban development. This upcoming landmark in Sweden is one of several standout mass timber placemaking developments being developed from a mass timber standardised kit of parts.
Other standouts that opened this year include, 2024 Dezeen winner Wisdome Stockholm, Cederhusen (ByggPartner), Mälarterrassen, Slussen (Woodconstruction Sweden AB), and Stora Enso’s new head office, Katajanokan Laituri, Finland’s largest mass timber building, regenerating Helsinki’s harbourfront.
It is not just Scandinavia. In France this year, WO2’s Arboretum, and Bouygues’ Six Degrés are entire new urban spaces built with a Sylva™ kit.
The rise of mass timber
The rise in large-scale mass timber developments is driven by bold and creative collaborations between developers and municipalities. The projects reflect the growing number of people who are choosing to live, work, and play in neighbourhoods with small carbon footprints.
Shifts in financing models, recent regulatory changes, and advances in prefabrication underpin these developments to achieve the climate benefits building in wood offers developers and cities. Mass timber lowers buildings’ embodied carbon footprint and stores carbon within their structure. This helps cities immediately reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and developers reach their ambitious targets.
This positive impact is instantaneous (not some time off in the future for 2030 or 2050) because engineered wood acts as a natural carbon capsule, storing carbon after removing CO₂ from the atmosphere while the trees were growing in sustainably managed forests.
Financing large-scale projects
The surge in development is partly due to shifts in financing models for building greener. A recent podcast on financing the green transition, “The Money Issue”, with Professor Greg Clark, who advises over 400 cities on the issue, describes the explosion in innovative financial models advancing lower emission developments. These models are moving us away from business-as-usual financing methods and government policies that facilitate and subsidize unsustainable building practices.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
Clark explains how local leaders and city planners are playing a crucial role in driving investment towards sustainable urban development. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and place leadership are becoming more common, pooling resources and sharing risks to make green projects more viable. Additionally, impact investing is on the rise, with investors increasingly looking to fund projects that generate positive social and environmental impacts alongside financial returns. Initiatives such as monetizing the carbon stored in buildings are part of this trend.
Regulatory drivers
Gregory Richards, policy and regulations director at Stora Enso, notes key regulatory actions making lower-emission buildings ‘the default choice’. Governments are increasingly regulating the emissions from buildings, including so-called embodied emissions from manufacturing building materials and the construction process itself. In France, Denmark and the Netherlands – and soon the entire European Union – governments are placing limits on building emissions. Such actions support the use of low-emission and carbon-storing materials – especially wood.
Streamlined construction
Advances in the kit of parts are also helping make lower-emission buildings ‘the default choice’. Instead of developers having to source various elements like glulam, laminated veneer lumber or Rib Panels from multiple suppliers, you can now get everything you need in a single kit.
This process was further streamlined in 2024 when Stora Enso opened the world’s largest fully automated coating line. This significantly increased the capacity for building at scale with mass timber, as elements can now arrive with protective coatings preapplied, ready to install immediately.
Kvarter 7 in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo: ©Atrium Ljungberg AB
In Stockholm’s Wood City, Kvarter 7 exemplifies how Sylva can be used to create low-carbon urban living spaces. This residential development utilizes Sylva CLT Walls, Floors and Roofs and GLT Beams and Columns to construct energy-efficient apartments very quickly.
In Finland, Stora Enso’s new head office, Katajanokan Laituri, has set a new standard for LCA-driven design and construction. This 23,000 square meter landscraper / horizontal skyscraper builds on Helsinki’s decade-long effort with their Wood City project. Wood City Helsinki in the Jätkäsaari quarter, now home to 17,000 residents and Supercell’s Head Office, exemplifies this transformation.
There are many other examples in Stora Enso’s growing references. These shifts in economics and regulations, mixed with advances in prefabrication, are proving to be the perfect tonic for everyone who wants to build right.
www.storaenso.com
