Katajanokan Laituri in Helsinki, Finland, is a solid-wood office and hotel building that sets an example of the possibilities of wood construction.

The first new building on the formerly industrial Katajanokka waterfront, the office connects to Helsinki’s iconic maritime cityscape.

A double-structure on the facade, with an outer layer of glass, aluminum, and granite that protects the exposed wood structures from the maritime weather, connects the building to the wider cityscape.

The building has four floors above the ground, a publicly accessible green rooftop terrace, and a basement that houses technical facilities and parking. Besides wood, light gray granite is used on the facades and on the pavement outside.

The street-level spaces connect to the surrounding city on both sides and feature a large, shared open foyer, restaurant, cafe, and conference spaces.

The building’s above-ground structures use standard industrial prefabricated massive wood products. The post-beam frame and the facade structure are made of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) produced in Varkaus, Finland. The inner walls and lift and staircase shafts that stiffen the structure, as well as the floor and roof structures, are made of cross laminated timber (CLT) produced in Gruvön, Sweden.