WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The natural
qualities of wood - lightness and strength - bring multiple
positive consequences for both individual constructors and
societies undergoing heavy urbanisation. According to experts, one
of the areas of wood construction with most potential is extension
building. Wooden materials like Metsä Wood's Kerto® LVL (laminated
veneer lumber) make construction fast, light and green.
Our existing built environment is going through an era of
refurbishment. The need to renovate building service systems such
as sewage and ventilation is a remarkable driver of residential
refurbishments. To finance these operations, new storeys are in
some cases being added on top of existing buildings.
"Adding new layers to the roofs of old buildings requires
careful planning. Old structures may have been calculated in
accordance with different standards than those applied today, or
the materials may have been damaged during their service
life," Aalto University architect and researcher
Matti Kuittinen points
out.
Using lightweight building materials is one valid option for
solving this problem.
Exceptional extension building near Paris - 33 apartments in 6 months
Wood is strong and relatively lightweight. This makes wood
elements and modules made with Kerto LVL an excellent option when
adding new storeys on top of an existing building.
In Poissy, near Paris in France, 33 new apartments were constructed on
top of a group of existing residential buildings. Due to
prefabrication and light wooden structures, it took only six months
to complete.
"What's interesting about the solution for vertical urban
development is the prefabrication," declares Laurent
Pillaud, architect at Virtuel Architecture. "Each apartment
consists of three or four modules and one roof; the production of
the modules took one month. Then the modules were delivered, and
each was installed directly on the rooftop in one day."
No need for heavy foundations or a laborious logistical
effort
One of the most essential advantages of building with wood is
the lighter weight of the structure, which enables building on
a lighter foundation.
"This in turn leads to cost savings, as less piling,
construction material and time are needed," architect and
researcher Matti Kuittinen
says.
For constructors, the other benefits of using light wood
elements include easier material handling at the building site and
more efficient construction logistics. Again, time and money are
saved during the construction project.
Learn more about light building with wood.
This article has been published as part of the Kerto LVL
Fast, Light, Green series. All the articles are available at
www.metsawood.com/articles.
Images: https://databank.metsagroup.com/l/NTm8xKrPSFDR
References:
T. Konstantinou, Facade Refurbishment
toolbox: Supporting the Design of Residential Energy Upgrades,
TU Delft, Delft, 2014.
M. Langen, "Building additional floors with wood", Metsä Wood
articles, 2016.
http://www.metsawood.com/global/news-media/articles/Pages/building-wooden-extension-storeys.aspx
H. Berger, Light Structures, Structures of light: The Art and
Engineering of Tensile Architecture, Basel - Boston - Berlin: Birkhäuser Verlag, 1996.
For more information, please contact:
Viivi Kylämä
Marketing Manager
Metsä Wood
mobile: +358-40-820-9850
viivi.kylama@metsagroup.com
Kirk Nichols
VP Sales,Americas
Metsä Wood USA
mobile: (404)-861-1098
kirk.nichols@metsagroup.com
For press information in UK, please contact:
Matt Trace, Director
Defero Communications
tel. +07828663988
matt@deferouk.co.uk
This information was brought to you by Cision
http://news.cision.com
https://news.cision.com/metsa-wood/r/metsa-wood--the-era-of-extensions-is-now---light-wood-is-the-optimal-building-material,c2939385
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