Honkarakenne completes one of Finland’s largest log daycare centres in Kuopio

Press Release 27.4.2016

Honkarakenne will deliver an expansion to one of Finland’s largest log day-care centres in Hiltulanlahti, Kuopio. The new premises will enable the physical education-oriented Touhula day care centre in Hiltulanlahti to serve Kuopio-based families even better. According to Touhula, all users,from adults to children, are delighted with the current day care centre constructed from log.

Honkarakenne reports increasing interest in log construction, particularly in urban areas. Honkarakenne handed over Finland’s largest log day care centre to the Touhula Day-Care Centres in 2012. The day care centre has been expanded since then, in order to accommodate the first, second and third grades of a comprehensive school in the same building. A third grade class currently operates in the day care centre. The day care centre will be expanded to meet the need for larger premises. Once it is built, Finland’s largest log day care centre will comprise 900 square metres of day care and primary education facilities. The extension will be completed in August 2016.

− In service construction, you often need to ensure that the building can serve very different users at different stages of its lifecycle. As a breathing, natural material that will last for centuries, log is an excellent choice of construction material for just this purpose. Modern technology allows almost limitless modifications and extensions, lengthening the building’s lifecycle even further, says Jukka Musakka , of Honkarakenne’s sales team in Kuopio.

Honkarakenne is an increasingly important player in the field of service construction, where the firm has seen interest in log construction grow, due to its fulfilment of health, wellbeing and environmental values. For example, the company has delivered log hospitals to Japan and a log day care centre for France. Interest in log construction is particularly increasing in urban areas, where Honka’s innovative Honka Fusion concept and new Zero Corner wall structure enable the design of modern architecture that is particularly suitable for urban environments.
The day care centre extension will be built using massive wood. As a naturally breathing material, this improves indoor air quality and is particularly suitable for vulnerable user groups such as children.

− Clean and fresh indoor air is an important quality criterion for Touhula. As a physical education-oriented day care centre, we also encourage physical activity indoors. Naturally, breathing walls encourage this. All of our users, from adults to children, have been satisfied with the current log building. This is a healthy, high-quality building that has attracted admirers even from abroad, says Service Manager  Marja-Leena Kasurinen of Touhula Varhaiskasvatus Oy.

The excellent characteristics of massive wood have also convinced the building maintenance provider, who regards the day care centre, now in its fifth year of operation, as being highly energy efficient.

− The heating costs of the log-built Touhula are very reasonable compared to those of other, non-log day care centres. Despite being built from logs placed on top of one another, without any additional insulation or plastics, the building has been tightly constructed. Massive wood provides warmth in the winter and is pleasantly cool in the summer, says Janne Hämäläinen.

Honkarakenne Ltd is the world’s best-known manufacturer and marketer of buildings constructed with genuine massive wood. The product selection of the Honka brand emphasises healthy living, innovative structural solutions and energy-efficiency, and includes detached and holiday homes and major projects such as hotels, restaurants, day care centres, schools and hospitals. Since 1958, the company has sold more than 85,000 products to more than 50 countries. In 2014, the turnover of the Honkarakenne Group was EUR 46 million, of which exports accounted for 52%. Honkarakenne Ltd’s series B shares are quoted in NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.

Touhula Varhaiskasvatus Oy is a Finnish day care service provider that has received the Finnish Key Flag Symbol as sign of domestic origin. Touhula Day-Care Centres support an active lifestyle among children in a fun and controlled way. Touhula is an activity-filled, happy day-care centre where children feel at home.