Wooden Finnforest structures to be delivered to the Ideapark Commercial City in Kiiminki

21/01/2009
Finnforest will supply the Ideapark Commercial City, in Kiiminki, northern
Finland, with structures made from high-quality and environmentally friendly
wood raw material. With a floor area of over 100,000 square metres, the
construction project, due to start in May 2009, will produce one of the biggest
commercial buildings in Finland. Ideapark Kiiminki is planned to be opened in
2011. 

“The environmental friendliness of wood and the quick implementation enabled by
the structure system are superior advantages when building the Ideapark,” says
project developer Toivo Sukari, CEO of Masku Kiinteistöt Oy. 

“We chose Finnforest as the supplier of the wooden structures because it has
wide international experience in delivering product components for demanding
commercial and public buildings,” says Jukka Laaksovirta, CEO of Destia Ltd. 

The Finnforest product component delivery includes Kerto-RipaTM roofing panels,
the intermediate floor and the load-bearing main frame of the building and
their onsite installation. The project will be managed by Destia and the
architect is Schauman Arkkitehdit Oy. 

“To meet the needs of customers in the building and construction industry, we
aim at developing competitive product component solutions and systems which
fulfil the continuously tightening environmental and energy requirements,” says
Mika Kallio, head of the Building Solutions Business Line, Finnforest. 
 
Kerto-RipaTM roofing panels are 18-metre-long product components. They enable
large roof structures to be completed in the quickest way possible. In
addition, the building can be implemented with fewer columns, beams and
structural connections, as well as meeting the requirements of P1, that is, the
highest fire-safety requirement class according to Finnish regulation. 

In comparison to other materials and solutions, the superior advantages of the
Finnforest solution also include overall cost-efficiency, possibility to make
the roofing structures water-tight and heat insulated as the installation
progresses, and the freely adjustable heat insulation and domestic (Finnish)
origin. 

The Kerto®--based Finnforest solution has been proven to be environmentally
friendly. According to a study carried out by VTT Technical Research Centre of
Finland, the chosen structure clearly has smaller carbon footprint compared
with other structural systems. Wood is a fully renewable and recyclable
building material. When trees grow, they bind carbon, part of which is stored
in wood products, and this helps mitigate climate change. 

Over the past two years, Finnforest has delivered building solutions for
several commercial buildings. The retail chain Tesco partnered with Finnforest
to deliver its first two Eco-Store outlets in the UK. Previous Finnish projects
include the Ikea store in Raisio, Tiiriö's Big Boxit in Hämeenlinna and the
Rautia store in Klaukkala. 

Further information: 
Mika Kallio, Senior Vice President, Building Solutions, Finnforest, tel. +358
40 567 4254 
Johanna Kankkunen, Communications, Finnforest, tel. +358 50 350 4005 

Background information:
The first Ideapark Commercial City was opened in 2006 in Lempäälä, Finland. The
second Ideapark will be constructed in Kiiminki in the Oulu region, by trunk
road 20.  Ideapark is a regional and national shopping and tourist attraction,
providing visitors with an appealing place to purchase leisure, interior
decoration, fashion and grocery products. Read more at  www.ideapark.fi