Stora Enso to participate in building Europe’s biggest next-generation car showroom in Finland

Helsinki, Finland, 2012-05-23 08:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stora Enso is taking part in designing and building the next-generation, highly energy self-sufficient car showroom Sunny Car Center in Finland by providing the wooden roof elements for the project. With a size of 50 000 m2, Sunny Car Center, located in Hämeenlinna, will have one of the largest wooden element roofs in Finland. With shorter assembly time and better sustainability than other materials and solutions, the wooden elements are a perfect fit for the project seeking as high as possible energy-efficiency and utilising smart and integrated renewable energy solutions developed in co-operation with Siemens.

“Sunny Car Center will not be a traditional car showroom, nor a basic building solutions project for us. It represents true rethinking in building large service centres with a truly sustainable approach. We are working with the customer to design and produce wooden elements that together with smart renewable energy solutions, such as solar panels and own energy production, will enable high energy self-sufficiency and enhance the sustainability of the building,” says Matti Mikkola, SVP, Building Solutions, Stora Enso Building and Living.

“From the assembly point of view, time and sustainability were the main attractions of wood when choosing the roof material, and Stora Enso as a pioneer in wood element construction in Finland was a natural choice for co-operation,” says Markku Ritaluoma, head of the Sunny Car Center venture.

The wooden roof elements will be produced at Pälkäne, Finland, with CLT used as the visible lower surface of the roof in the highest parts of the building. The elements are planned to be produced during autumn 2012, and assembly is expected to take place in March 2013. The Sunny Car Center is scheduled to open its doors in 2014. Once completed, the building is expected to become the largest car showroom in Europe including different services related to cars and traffic, as well as services for visitors of any age to use.

“Construction professionals, especially in Finland, are every day becoming more and more aware of the advantages and possibilities of wood. Several projects announced since the end of 2011, such as Wood City, Nuuksio national nature centre and Joensuun Elli, confirm this positive development which we aim to continue in all our main markets,” says Hannu Kasurinen, head of Stora Enso Building and Living.