Puukuokka – Award-winning expertise in wood

The Puukuokka high-rise residential building is a site that combines affordable living, timber construction and the promotion of new techniques. Puukuokka, whose wooden structural engineering was carried out by Sweco, was awarded the Finlandia Prize for Architechture in 2015.

Wood is a material well-suited for many kinds of construction, and its significance has increased through various environmental concerns. Puukuokka, whose name translates to a timber hoe, is a daring and ambitious project that includes the use of new technology and an ecological, human-oriented touch. Puukuokka is the first of its kind: an eight-storey timber building.

The timber apartment building completed in the district of Kuokkala, in the city of Jyväskylä, in 2014 was designed by OOPEAA Office for Peripheral Architecture based in Seinäjoki, and Sweco carried out the structural engineering. It is the first of a group of three apartment buildings and it consists of 58 apartments. When complete, the entire block will comprise 150 apartments on a total of 10,500 m² gross floor area and 17,300 m² gross area.

Timber construction demands precise calculations and research, which is why we chose to make quite comprehensive and versatile use of building information modelling (BIM). With BIM, we were able to enhance the designing process as well as the cooperation between the various parties.

Puukuokka holds its own in terms of carbon footprint comparisons, living comfort and its degree of domestic origin. Puukuokka utilises renewable energy sources, and the construction project is deemed a passive energy project in accordance with the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd definition. A modern timber multi-story is safe and fire-resistant.

The project was commissioned by Lakea Oy.