Finnforest Modular Office (FMO) in Tapiola, Finland, was detailed and built utilizing Tekla’s advanced 3D design and modeling technique. The unique 5-storey and 13,000 square meter building is the tallest wooden office building in Europe, consisting of thousands of both prefabricated and separately worked wooden parts as well as stiffening steel wire nets and precast concrete elements.
Finnforest modular office is owned by the Tapiola Group and located in the city of Espoo in Finland’s capital region and is the highest wood building in Europe. The implementation of the 20 million euro building project was the responsibility of Europe’s largest corporation in the wood products industry, Finnforest plc (Metsäliitto Group). The office building was inaugurated in September 2005. The aim of the project was to prove the competitiveness of good old wood as building material, which it very well did. The structural design of FMO Tapiola was carried out with Tekla Structures software.
Wood: attractive and competitive
Completed in the summer of 2005, the highest wood-structure office building in Europe is a tour de force in wood construction and a true landmark attracting attention in wide circles. The professional community followed the project closely, and the public was also very interested in it. In addition to an ecological office solution, the modular office provides a close-to-nature, healthy and safe yet modern work environment. The starting points for the project were indeed unconventional use of wood, the life-cycle properties and environmental effects of the materials, energy efficiency, indoor climate, as well as the lighting and acoustics effects.
FMO Tapiola is a pilot project in the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries’ (RT) construction and real estate program for the development of the PromiseE classification for eco-efficiency and life-cycle measurement. The project gives an excellent idea not only of Finnish expertise in wood products but in particular of the competitiveness of wood in medium-height construction
