Finnish company Honka pioneers quality and sustainable housing – new modern log house models offer flexibility for different stages of life

Press release Honkarakenne Ltd
8 February 2024

A global modern log construction trendsetter, the Finnish company Honka sets a challenge to take a more sustainable approach to housing: what impact do our choices have on health and the environment for generations to come? The log houses in Honka’s new flexibly convertible range adapt and grow with life.

Imagine how your housing needs change over time. A young family with children typically has a limited budget. As the children are growing, the family needs space. And when the children eventually move out on their own, the need for space changes again. Later in life, the homeowners’ elderly parents will need care, in the future more and more often in the form of home care. In the urban Honka Silmu log house model, these different uses have been considered already at the design stage.

The modern, shed-roofed Honka Silmu can be customised in a number of ways. The basic model is a stylish 108 m2 detached house that can be extended to 144 m2 by adding an extra bedroom, bathroom and conservatory, or two bedrooms. As a third option, and depending on the occupants’ needs, a garage or summer kitchen can be built in the extension. The base also allows for a side apartment, for example for a young person becoming independent or a grandparent in the family.

“Our flexibly convertible models are designed to allow a wide range of variations to live a different kind of life without having to build or buy a new home and give up a natural and sustainable log house with healthy indoor air,” says Honkarakenne’s Chief Architect Anne Mäkinen.

Our flexibly convertible models are designed to allow a wide range of variations to live a different kind of life without having to build or buy a new home and give up a natural and sustainable log house with healthy indoor air.

Anne Mäkinen, Chief Architect at Honkarakenne

The range responds to demand in European growth centres, where land is scarce. Three generations of experience in shared housing has been gained in Japan, where Honkarakenne has decades of experience in the Japanese housing market. In total, Honka has so far delivered 90,000 log houses to more than 50 countries. Conversion flexibility is also provided for in Honkarakenne’s sustainability programme, and designers have been trained in life cycle thinking since 2021.

“Perceptions of housing quality are changing. We want to lead the house building market and spatial planning in a direction that takes life and life cycles into account in a sustainable way,” says Mäkinen.

Proven health benefits of solid wood

Research has shown that the dense wood grown in northern forests is a sustainable, ecological and healthy building material. Solid logs are antibacterial, damp-proof and airtight. Pine and spruce, grown in healthy forests, contain natural compounds that make the logs antibacterial. Good indoor air quality also depends on the ability of the log to balance the humidity of the indoor air.

“Logs are a smart material. They breathe. Breathability refers to the variation in indoor humidity and the fact that it’s optimal for health. To us, building with log means creating natural structures without resorting to synthetic insulation solutions or vapour barriers. Honka log homes are plastic-free and breathe naturally”, Mäkinen says.
In addition, studies have shown that solid softwood, as a living material, calms the heart rate and helps relieve stress.

Further information:
Heidi Kaunokoski, Marketing Director
+358 50 524 9687
heidi.kaunokoski@honka.com

Honkarakenne Ltd manufactures healthy and eco-friendly high-quality Honka® log homes, holiday homes and public buildings from renewable, certified solid wood. The company has delivered over 90,000 buildings to over 50 countries. The Honka log home kits are manufactured at the company’s own factory in Karstula, Finland. In 2022, Honkarakenne Group’s consolidated net sales totalled EUR 73.7 million, of which exports accounted for 26%. www.honka.fi