Southern Sweden: Timber Construction and Sustainable Building Materials

Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven states that Sweden aims to be Europe's most sustainable country. The Swedes have excelled in promoting sustainability from the political level to the various (conservative) stakeholders in the construction industry, from the timber industry to university departments developing timber technologies, housing associations, contractors, and architects. Experience these initiatives on a study tour to Southern Sweden with ArkiTours.

Southern Sweden is at the forefront of this development, as seen in Växjö, where there is a requirement that 50% of all new construction should be in wood. On this tour, you will gain insight into how the city has established a cluster environment, where city officials, together with the university, industry, developers, architects, and others, have collaborated on the development of new industrial wood types, construction principles, and new types of buildings.

Highlights of the architecture in Southern Sweden

Hoppet School: Sweden's first passive construction in school building. The school uses 60-70% recycled glass and has reduced its carbon footprint by 70%. The school accommodates 144 students and covers 1,800m2.
Visit to CLT Production Facility: Learn about types, sizes, construction principles, transport, economics, etc.
Insight into Wood/CLT Construction Forms and High-rises in Residential Complexes in Växjö: Explore a large residential complex with 200 apartments near a large lake, with different ownership forms, tenants, etc.
Presentation at the Institute for Forest and Technology at Linnaeus University: Understand the economic and environmental savings of building in wood/CLT and how to document it.
Presentation by an entrepreneur: Hear from one of the pioneers in the last 15 years of CLT/wood construction.
Key Data on User Perspectives: What are the benefits of living and working in wood construction?
Visit to Different Forms of Wood Construction: From large residential areas to commercial buildings.
Possibly: How to make a political vision concrete? Presentation by Växjö Kommunforetag AB.
European Spallation Source: Scandinavia's leading research center in science, developed by Buro Happold, Cobe, Henning Larsen, and SLA. The building was erected in 2022 and spans a total of 100,000m2.