SATO Corporation
Press release 24 September 2021 at 11:00 am
SATO, one of Finland’s largest rental housing providers, is developing timber apartment buildings featuring two storeys with deck access and a total of 112 homes in the Mellunmäki district of Helsinki.
On 16 April 2021, SATO signed a construction contract with Lehto Asunnot Oy on a new property to rise at Lupajantie 2, and construction work began in spring 2021. The property under construction will feature a total of six two-storey timber-structure apartment buildings as well as outbuildings for facilities such as apartment-specific storage units, residents’ clubroom and sauna sections. There will be 112 new non-subsidised rental homes in the property. With the property laid out in a U-shaped design, there will be a light-filled atrium courtyard between the apartment buildings. The homes will be move-in ready in May 2022.
Timber construction has a smaller carbon footprint than concrete construction
The construction material of the load-bearing structures and exteriors of the low-rise apartment buildings is wood.
− The buildings are made from prefabricated box units. Each apartment will consist of one or two box units. At the end of each installation day, the installed box units are protected from the weather by topping them with pre-fabricated roof sections, says Arto Aalto, Vice President, Investments, at SATO.
− It’s a pleasure to cooperate with SATO in constructing timber apartment buildings. The Lehto timber apartment building represents modern construction that to a very large extent makes use of Finnish industrial prefabrication. It’s an ecological and affordable high-quality alternative that’s quicker to complete than traditional construction. For residents and tenants, wood as a material creates pleasant and comfortable homes, says Project Manager Antti Leinonen from Lehto.
From the environmental perspective, timber buildings have many benefits: they sequester carbon and act as carbon reservoirs. The use of wood also reduces the carbon footprint of construction.
SATO has timber apartment buildings in Kivistö, Vantaa, and Honkasuo, Helsinki, too.
Sustainable housing choices taken into account in design solutions
The design solutions employed in the Lupajantie buildings pay attention to energy efficiency and use construction solutions and materials that will last for decades. The homes and common areas feature efficient design, which helps to reduce the energy consumption and improve the carbon footprint of the buildings.
The heat source for the buildings will be geothermal heat, which makes use of thermal energy stored in the ground. Geothermal heat reduces carbon dioxide emissions and also has an additional advantage in that it may be used for cooling as well. The property will also have solar panels.