Inside Europe’s billion-dollar wooden city

A huge, caller metropolis is being built successful Sweden, but it's not being constructed utilizing alloy oregon factual — its main gathering worldly is wood.

Part of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, is acceptable to go the "world's largest woody operation project," according to its developer Atrium Ljungberg, which volition put 12 cardinal Swedish krona (about $1.25 billion) into the project.

Sickla — an concern country to the southbound of Stockholm's halfway erstwhile known for manufacturing diesel engines — is being redeveloped utilizing cross-laminated timber, with the worldly being utilized successful its buildings' core, floors and walls.

The caller woody homes, offices, schools and stores, volition beryllium interwoven with older structures, immoderate of which person been converted into libraries oregon cinemas, and the country volition widen to 250,000 quadrate meters, oregon astir 2.7 cardinal quadrate feet.

Håkan Hyllengren, caput of concern improvement astatine Atrium Ljungberg, said Sickla aims to beryllium a showcase for sustainable development. The operation assemblage produces 37% of the world's c emissions, making it "by far" the biggest culprit erstwhile it comes to greenhouse gases, according to the U.N. Environment Programme.

"We are truly successful a assemblage wherever we tin marque a change, if we tin physique otherwise and we tin tally the buildings successful much biology way," Hyllengren told CNBC via video call.

Doing truthful besides contributes to Atrium Ljungberg's extremity of cutting its operation emissions to astir zero by 2030, a "bold and tough" determination by the company, according to Hyllengren.

Studies amusement that wide timber buildings nutrient overmuch little emissions than those made from alloy oregon concrete: a 2024 study by academics from the USDA Forest Service suggested that timber buildings person global warming potential (a measurement of emissions) that is astatine slightest 81% little than concrete, portion the fig for alloy was 76% lower.

Nearly 70% of Swedish territory is made up of forests, and the state has utilized timber successful operation for galore years. "We person a adjacent taste transportation to the forest," said Oskar Norelius, pb designer astatine White Arkitekter, which is moving with Atrium Ljungberg connected the project.

"A batch of Swedes walk clip successful the wood to unwind and bash antithetic activities. But it's besides a precise large portion of the economy, not conscionable for construction, but besides for energy, for pulp, for bio-based products," Norelius told CNBC by video call.

But Hyllengren said woody buildings are "usually a azygous location present and there," truthful creating an full metropolis from timber is new.

Norelius designed Sara Kulturhus, a 20-story gathering successful the northbound of Sweden made from timber that comprises depository and assemblage spaces, an lawsuit hall, a room and a 200-room Wood Hotel.

The task helped radical successful the manufacture spot the imaginable for constructing larger structures successful wood, which tin beryllium perceived arsenic being hard due to the fact that of the rules astir occurrence risk. "We've shifted the mindset successful seeing that timber is simply a operator for architecture alternatively than a restraint," Norelius said.

The archetypal portion of the development, a residential country of 80 apartments named Kvarter 7, volition beryllium completed by the extremity of 2025, portion White Arkitekter is moving connected designs for Sickla's archetypal bureau block. The task besides has readying support for dual-use buildings, meaning that homes could go offices successful future, giving the buildings a "second life," Norelius said. Around 2,000 much apartments are planned for 2027.

Beyond the sustainability of gathering successful timber, radical look to emotion wood. Visitors to Sara Kulturhus person been seen hugging its woody columns, thing that has the imaginable to hap successful Sickla, Norelius said. The operation of the buildings volition beryllium visible, including pipes and ventilation equipment, which means determination whitethorn beryllium much woody columns that radical could "lean on, oregon touch," helium said.

Like other European countries, Sweden suffered a existent property crash arsenic involvement rates roseate successful 2023, and Hyllengren said determination is simply a "feeling it's starting to change." Given Sickla's transport links — trains and trams tally to cardinal Stockholm and the city's subway volition beryllium extended to the improvement — Hyllengren said helium is optimistic astir the future.

While a level slab of factual is astir 20% cheaper than 1 made from timber, Hyllengren said gathering from wood is overmuch faster than utilizing accepted methods, meaning apartments and offices are acceptable to rent earlier.

And the pleasing aesthetics of wood mightiness besides pb to fiscal benefits for the developer. "We judge what we make is thing that volition beryllium charismatic — and we'll get higher rental income for it," Hyllengren said.