touring katajanokan laituri during helsinki design week 2024
Katajanokan Laituri by Anttinen Oiva Architects is the latest example of Finland‘s new-generation and large-scale wood architecture, which designboom got an extensive tour of during Helsinki Design Week. The eye-catching building houses the head office of Finnish forestry company Stora Enso, as well as the Pier 4 hotel with 164 rooms, including café and restaurant facilities open to the public and office facilities suitable for a wide range of businesses. This latest landmark, now part of Helsinki’s maritime skyline and historical Market Square, will also host the new Architecture and Design Museum and soon become a hotspot for art, design, and leisure. ‘The area is going through a massive transformation, as the old port functions are partly moving away and the shoreline gradually opens to pedestrians,’ share the architects.
Katajanokan Laituri by Anttinen Oiva Architects | image © Kalle Kouhia
a new-generation wooden design by Anttinen Oiva Architects
The team at Anttinen Oiva Architects designed Katajanokan Laituri using mass timber elements. Right from the start of the international invitational architecture competition phase in 2020, the owner, insurance company Varma, and the anchor tenant, Stora Enso, highlighted their progressive environmental values and climate goals with the aim of a long lifespan, a flexible and adaptable building, and making the best use of renewable resources and materials.
As we toured the new four-story landmark, the architects highlighted how they combined Finnish and Swedish timber and used pioneering architectural and manufacturing methods with traditional and sustainable materials, exemplifying new-generation wood construction in Finland. The visible structures comprise cross-laminated timber (CLT) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL), from which almost 2,500 wooden elements were made. In all, the building consists of approximately 7,600 cubic meters of wood. A special two-layer solution was developed for the facade: the outer layer of glass, metal, and natural stone, with a dominantly wooden back layer.
image © Tuomas Uusheimo Photography
‘A double skin was the best solution given the architecturally and technically challenging maritime context,’ Selina Anttinen notes. ‘[…]The building’s appearance transforms in different times of the day and lighting conditions and fits the various scales and motifs of the surrounding buildings from the different historical eras.’ Inside the building, wood dominates as well, oozing the same strong sense of Nordic nature. At the center of it, an eye-catching hall with a round, cascading skylight embodies the architecture with a circular, wooden bench; meanwhile, a fresh birch grove greets visitors in the narrow inner courtyard. The Katajanokka Pier is built with the next 100 years in mind. Thanks to its location by the sea, Katajanokan Laituri also functions as a flood barrier.
touring Katajanokan Laituri | image © designboom
a central skylight | image © Kalle Kouhia
image © Kalle Kouhia
pairing cross-laminated timber (CLT) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) | image © Kalle Kouhia