Accelerating urbanization is a worldwide phenomenon. Cities produce more than 70% of global CO2 emissions. This means that the choices that cities make have huge implications for the people and for the planet. The citizens are usually not involved in making decisions about construction materials in the cities, one reason
In response to housing challenges and environmental issues in urban areas, extending buildings upwards is a logical solution. As part of an urban development project in Poissy, near Paris, 33 new apartments were constructed on top of existing residential buildings. The apartments were built with prefabricated wooden modules made from
Metsa Wood, a premium-quality provider of wood products for construction, industrial and distribution customers, calls for collaboration to improve the field of wood construction. Timber is a key element in house building and there is more to be done in terms of sharing knowledge and innovation to further advance the
Accelerating urbanization is a worldwide phenomenon. Cities produce more than 70% of global CO2 emissions. This means that the choices that cities make have huge implications for the people and for the planet. The citizens are usually not involved in making decisions about construction materials in the cities, one reason why concrete and steel predominate. To help both citizens and decision-makers push for more sustainable urban construction Architectural Democracy, Metsä Wood, and Accenture Interactive came together to explore how to turn todays’ rigid and exclusive urban construction process to a more inclusive and sustainable one – in a digital tool called Decisions.city. “The idea behind the movement of Architectural Democracy is to move away from opaque urban planning into a more open decision making process. There is no perfect mix of construction materials, but without including the voice of citizens we will continue to use traditional emissions-intensive materials”, Pedro Aibéo, architect and civil engineer, and the founder of the Architectural Democracy organization notes. Decisions.city is a showcase of a playful, yet informative online interaction platform that allows anyone to adjust the mix between different building materials; wood, concrete and steel – and to see the differences over time. “Decisions.city is an interactive experience that allows people to learn and understand how their city can develop in the future”, says Elliot White, Service Design Lead & Resident Architect at FJORD part of Accenture Interactive. “City structures are 90% concrete and steel, two of the single biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. Engineered wood products, like Kerto® LVL, store carbon and enable sustainable construction. We hope to increase citizens’ awareness of sustainable urban construction through participation and thereby contribute to finding new ways to make our cities sustainable, inclusive, resilient and safe”, says Jussi Björman, Director, Business Development, Construction, at Metsä Wood. Initial version of Decisions.city will be launched in conjunction with the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture to promote building a more sustainably, resilient and inclusive urban future. Try it out and see what the future of cities could look like: Decisions.city
In response to housing challenges and environmental issues in urban areas, extending buildings upwards is a logical solution. As part of an urban development project in Poissy, near Paris, 33 new apartments were constructed on top of existing residential buildings. The apartments were built with prefabricated wooden modules made from fast, light and green Kerto® LVL products. Thanks to the prefabrication and light wooden structures, the construction took only six months to complete. Prefabrication and use of wooden structures make building extensions fast and economical. Metsä Wood’s Kerto® LVL (laminated veneer lumber) is an ideal material for designing and constructing additional floors in urban environments. Wooden modules are light to transport and lift. Prefabrication ensures quick installation. The construction work for the wooden extensions in the Beauregard neighbourhood of Poissy began in September 2016. The building renovation project was managed by the property owner Vilogia and the Parisian architectural agency Virtuel Architecture. The 33 new apartments, each with 2–3 bedrooms, were constructed on the rooftops of three buildings, with a reinforced structural design. The modular housing units were installed at a rate of roughly one to three apartments per day. The construction project also included installation of three elevators and extension to the staircases. “What’s interesting about the solution for vertical urban development is the prefabrication”, declares Laurent Pillaud, architect at Virtuel Architecture. “Each house is made up of three or four modules and one roof; the production of the modules took one month. Then the modules were delivered and each was installed directly on the rooftop in one day.” The joints between the modules were carefully planned. The wooden modules could be lifted directly to the right place and quickly connected to other modules and to roof structures. Well-thought of design minimised the amount of work and hassle at the construction site. A company CMB assembled the wooden modules at their production hall in Mauléon. CMB is renowned for its exceptional expertise in modular construction. Prefabrication guaranteed the quality at all levels: interior paintwork, toilet facilities, flooring, internal and external woodwork, etc. Building upwards with wooden modules Today, the hyper-urbanisation of cities is a multifaceted problem, posing social issues as well as issues concerning respect for the environment and health. Building vertical extensions using wooden modules is a logical and appropriate solution to the housing crisis in urban areas. Between 1990 and 2011, over 1,200 vertical developments were authorised in the city of Paris alone, whilst over 31,000 planning permission files were submitted, along with over 65,000 planning permission requests. These figures stand as proof of the growing interest in vertical urban development. Open Source Wood initiative Metsä Wood believes that construction using wood and modular building extensions are the most practical and environmentally sound solutions to addressing rapid global urbanisation and climate change. However, not nearly enough knowledge about modular wood design and building is shared, so wood construction remains a limited sector of the construction industry. That’s why Metsä Wood launched Open Source Wood – a pioneering open innovation project aimed at facilitating knowledge sharing and growth in modular wood construction. Read more and join the initiative at opensourcewood.com
Metsa Wood, a premium-quality provider of wood products for construction, industrial and distribution customers, calls for collaboration to improve the field of wood construction. Timber is a key element in house building and there is more to be done in terms of sharing knowledge and innovation to further advance the use of this material. For this purpose to be achieved, Metsa Wood has launched the Open Source Wood initiative at www.opensourcewood.com. The company’s Executive Vice President, Esa Kaikkonen, explains that wood construction is just a niche because of the lack of knowledge shared in the field. The solution that they proposed might change that by bringing more collaboration in the industry. The potential of wood is world-wide known and one study carried out by companies that have applied lean construction methods showed that 84% reported a higher quality in construction and 80% experienced a larger customer satisfaction. The results prove that to wood elements enable a faster, more efficient, and environmentally sound design, without reducing the quality of the final product. Timber prefabrication construction has other advantages too. It reduces the inconvenience of constant uploading the building materials and it reduces the amount of on-site waste and therefore the need to transport it. This could be the solution to achieving the high volume of housing required in the UK. Europe has already seen the potential that timber prefab has and UK is gradually turning towards it with a need to provide more affordable, adaptable and ecological homes. Even though it looks like the wood construction is slowly progressing, there are more that need to be done in terms of making the companies realise its potential. With the launch of Open Source Wood project, it is hoped that timber construction will become the forefront of new house building in the UK.
