The modern wooden town project (1997 – 2010) in Finland

Abstract

Paper presented at the XXXIII IAHS World Congress on Housing, 27-30 September 2005,"Transforming Housing Environments through Design", University of Pretoria.

ABSTRACT: Based on an initiative of the Wood Studio of the University of Oulu’s Department of Architecture, a nation- wide Modern Wooden Town project was started in 1997 and will at least last until 2010. The main objective of the project is to employ timber construction in creating pleasant, exemplary new residential milieus in different areas of Finland. The Modern Wooden Town project has also responded to the recent goals of Finland’s government housing policy, in which production of closely-spaced town-like areas of small apartment buildings and single-family houses and development of timber construction are the main concern. Design and implementation have employed closely-spaced, efficient timber construction to achieve cost-effectiveness and sustainable development. The primary supporters of the Modern Wooden Town project have been the National Technology Agency of Finland (TEKES), the Ministry of the Environment and Wood Focus Oy (Finnish Timber Council), and since 1999 also the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of the Interior. The Wood Studio of the University of Oulu’s Department of Architecture has acted as the nation-wide co-ordinator of the Modern Wooden Town project. The Modern Wooden Town project currently includes over 30 timber construction area projects in different parts of Finland. The overall yield of the areas ranges from neighbourhoods of wooden single-family homes in rural municipalities to efficient town-like milieus consisting of multi-storey timber apartment buildings. Completed wood milieu sites have received mostly positive feedback from residents, clients, designers, visitors and the media. The most desired form of living is in a closely-spaced, low, single-family home-type residential milieu, which traditionally has consisted mainly of timber construction in Finland.