The best-known building in the municipality of Petäjävesi in Central Finland is its old wooden church, built in the 1760’s. When Mr. Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, publicly reminisced about a visit to a Finnish wooden church, saying that in Italy it would have been pulled down, Finns suspected he meant the Petäjävesi Church, a Unesco world heritage landmark.

It emerged later that the Italian PM may have confused Finland with Iceland.

Be that as it may, a new public wooden building is being constructed in Petäjävesi. Due to be completed by next autumn, the two-storey municipal building is situated in the centre of the municipality, about a kilometre from the old church.

For a change, a wooden public building is being made in Finland in which material choices have not been influenced by economic support from a forest-related body.

Council switched concrete to wood
”The old building has become too small and it’s in bad repair. Something had to be done,” says Mr. Mikko Tiirola, Chairman of the Forestry Council of the MTK. At the time the municipality decided on the new construction, he was Chairman of the Municipal Council.

The municipal decision-makers pondered what to do. Renovating the old municipal building would cost too much, and thus they decided to invest in a new, economical and adaptable building.

The first plans showed the standard solution, a three-storey building made of concrete.

Tiirola brought up the possibility of making a wooden building in a council meeting. After long consideration the council decided that the new municipal building should be made of wood and have a maximum of two storeys.

Small operators involved with subcontracts
The council also decided to arrange the work using subcontractors instead of engaging one contractor for the project. The subcontracting was opted for in order to give even smaller companies the chance to put in tenders. This meant that there would be genuine competition in tendering for the wooden parts, for example.

A construction consultant was hired to manage the project and to ensure it would proceed as planned.

Tiirola says that a wooden building also makes economic sense. The cost estimate for the concrete building was around three million euros. The wooden one now taking shape will probably cost less than two million.

All of the cost difference is not due to choosing wood: the plans have also been streamlined during the project.

The building must be adaptable
One requirement for the municipal building was that it must be capable of being converted to other uses. If the municipality of Petäjävesi ceases to be due to a merging of municipalities, the building can be converted into a day care centre or a senior centre.

Mr. Esa Säkkinen, the architect who designed the building, says that the requirement of adaptability was rather a tough one. “In addition, the building had to be compact, energy-efficient and economical to build,” Säkkinen recalls.

The solution was a building consisting of two sections connected by a glassed-in space. “A carefully thought-out but unassuming shape, which blends in with the surrounding village. A building which it is easy to step into,” Säkkinen describes his thoughts about the new building.

More wooden buildings to come
Mikko Tiirola advocates building with wood. ”It’s ecological and it can boost regional economy. The whole region of Central Finland should profile itself as a region that promotes building with wood.”

According to Tiirola, municipal decision-makers could wield more power than they usually do in Finland. “For example, the requirement of competitive tendering for public procurement does not mean only finding the cheapest solutions. Other requirements can be set,” he points out.

Esa Säkkinen says he likes to design with wood. However, wooden public buildings rarely come his way, and usually he designs wooden detached houses.

As yet, Säkkinen does not know whether he is happy with the Petäjävesi municipal building; after all, it is not yet finished. “Wood will also feature inside the building,” he says.

The municipal offices will not be the last new wooden public building in Petäjävesi. A new retail building is being planned that will also be finished by a wooden cladding. The reason is its proximity to the old church and the requirements of the National Board of Antiquities as to what can be built near it.

Tiirola has challenged other businesses to continue to build with wood. He thinks it might be easier to entice customers into shops which reflect the locality and are ecological.

By Krista Kimmo



The Municiplaity of Petäjävesi
Architect Esa Säkkinen (in Finnish only)
The Old Church of Petäjävesi