Helsinki’s former industrial Katajanokka waterfront is home to Katajanokan Laituri, a solid wood office and hotel building, and the largest mass timber construction in Finland to date. Designed by Helsinki-based architectural studio Anttinen Oiva Architects, the 23,000-square-metre landmark building is certified LEED Platinum. The completion of Katajanokan Laituri contributes to Helsinki’s goal of becoming a carbon-neutral city by 2030.
Located in the vicinity of Helsinki ́s famed Market Square, Katajanokan Laituri is the first new building to be built on the Katajanokka waterfront, an area being reimagined as a mixed-use neighbourhood. It is the head office of Stora Enso, a Finnish forestry company and provider of renewable products in packaging, biomaterials, and wooden construction. The building also houses a hotel, event space, open-plan offices, restaurant facilities, and an accessible green rooftop terrace. There are four floors above ground and basement levels with technical and parking facilities.
Katajanokan Laituri’s form maintains the uniform and neoclassical silhouette of the Katajanokka waterfront, while its meandering facades help to break its massive scale.
An example of “new-generation Finnish wood construction”
Katajanokan Laituri’s clients (Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Stora Enso, and Solo Sokos Hotel Pier 4) expressed their desire for a flexible and adaptable building with a long lifespan, constructed using renewable resources and materials.
Anttinen Oiva Architects describes Katajanokan Laituri as “the latest example of new-generation Finnish wood construction.” The building design employs innovative architectural and manufacturing techniques combined with traditional and sustainable materials. The internally exposed structure utilises Sylva™ by Stora Enso, the company’s range of prefabricated wood-based products. This includes Sylva CLT (cross-laminated timber) Walls, Floors, Roofs, and Stairs, and LVL (laminated veneer lumber) Beams and Columns. The CLT elements were produced in Gruvön, Sweden, while the LVL elements were produced in Varkaus, Finland. In total, the structure consists of 7,600-cubic-meters of spruce from sustainably managed Nordic forests, with more than 2,000 bespoke load-bearing wooden elements.
Katajanokan Laituri acts as a carbon store. The building’s wooden elements have captured 6,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and will store this carbon for at least 100 years.
Double-skin facade in harmony with its surroundings
Anttinen Oiva Architects developed a specific two-layer solution for Katajanokan Laituri’s facade. The outer layer is made up of glass, aluminium, and granite, and the inner layer consists of exposed wood. Founding partner and architect Selina Anttinen explains: “A double-skin facade was the best solution given the architecturally and technically challenging maritime context. The outer protective layer integrates with its stone-built surroundings and is made of glass with vertical white metal lamellae and natural stone. The building’s appearance transforms at different times of the day and fits the various scales and motifs of neighbouring buildings from different historical eras.”
A harmonious blend of natural materials and biophilic design
Katajanokan Laituri’s structural system and interior design offer maximum flexibility and adaptability. The exposed spruce structure, combined with meticulous spruce and ash detailing, showcases the beauty of natural wood. An impressive hall at the centre of the building includes a sculptural round CLT skylight and massive circular LVL bench. This bench embodies the concept of the infinite potential of renewable materials.
The building’s 700 window frames are made from wood, using Stora Enso’s Effex® Dura engineered wood components.
Viitasaari grey granite, from the Central Finland region, is used on the facades, paving, and interiors. The granite complements the natural wood, anchoring the building within its urban context.
The building’s biophilic design filters natural light and views, connects indoors and outdoors, and uses materials that age with grace. For its occupants, this promotes well-being, boosts productivity, and reduces stress. Moreover, the wooden design heightens the senses, with its tactile quality, excellent acoustics, visual appeal, and resinous smell.
Inspired by Finland’s northern nature, the outdoor spaces feature a birch grove in the courtyard and archipelago meadows on the rooftop.
Flood protection and waterfront revitalisation
Katajanokan Laituri’s harbour location was the project’s biggest challenge, requiring underwater foundations and integrating basement levels. The building’s foundation work establishes the first phase of Helsinki’s flood resilience plan. The harbourside ground level will be raised by more than a metre in the coming decades. “The below-ground levels are also important because they free up the ground floor as part of the public realm, integrating the building in line with the city’s urban plan,” says Anttinen Oiva Architects. “It paves the way for a future permanent reconstruction of the embankment as a continuous public space from the Market Square to the tip of Katajanokka."
