“Our building concepts demonstrate best-performing combinations of the Sylva™ by Stora Enso range of prefabricated wood-based products for low-carbon and cost-efficient wooden buildings. The diverse concepts help ideate projects of various building types to suit different layouts, scales, needs and spatial requirements,” says Sebastián Hernández, Building Concepts Manager at Stora Enso.
New mixed-use concept
To date, almost two-thirds of all buildings which don’t fulfill the original needs are being demolished*. Most of the time because they cannot be transformed for other uses. “This requires more energy, generates more emissions, and creates too much waste that ends up in landfills. As a replacement, a new building is erected, generating even more carbon emissions and consuming more energy. Accounting for almost 40% of global emissions, traditional construction simply can’t afford to be pedalling fast fashion’s equivalent in construction industry,” explains Hernández.
Instead, a building structure can be designed to adapt and be transformed for different purposes and requirements so it can be upcycled every time the needs or the urban context changes. This also helps the asset maintain its value throughout time.
Stora Enso has developed a new mixed-use building concept in collaboration with industry partner Sweco Finland Oy and INARO Integrated Architecture Office offering a solution for the increasing need for integrating different users and activities vertically in one building.
The all-new mixed-use building concept combines office and accommodation or retail space to assure flexibility in the planning phase and adaptability for future needs. “Mixed-use concepts help to secure longer lifespan for buildings, meaning that with the change of the initial purpose of the building, you can simply adjust the design for the new purpose. This saves time and money and is even more sustainable,” Hernández says.
Updates on existing building concepts
Stora Enso is also releasing new updates to existing concepts. An additional type has been added to the Office Concept series. The design is optimised for flexible working spaces and uses a central stiffening core with wide open floor space around it.
In keeping with the demand for hybrid structures, there's also an updated multi-storey residential building concept. It combines the benefits of a mass-timber load bearing structure with prefabricated non-load bearing envelope, significantly increasing the industrialization of the construction process with speed and quality on site.
The updated office and residential concepts were developed in cooperation with Ramboll Finland Oy. All of the new concepts also involved the expertise of Wood Expert Oy and KK-Palokonsultti Oy.
All Stora Enso concepts are free to use and work online, and you can access them on any device. No apps or downloads required. They are particularly suited for those involved in the conception and production of buildings, including planners, architects, engineers but also product suppliers, developers and builders. Learn more: https://buildingconcepts.storaenso.com/
