Connecting nature, people and style – Kontio is part of Helsinki Fashion Week 2019

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Helsinki Fashion Week brings together international and Finnish designers and other experts from various fields to help bring about a better future. This year, the event will present new material innovations and a sustainable city of the future in the centre of Helsinki. Kontio, the world’s largest and leading log home manufacturer, is collaborating with Helsinki Fashion Week to realise this vision. Kontio is a pioneer in ethically and ecologically sustainable housing and innovative Finnish design.

Kontio Glass Cabin™

What do log houses and fashion have in common? They’re both about style. The world has woken up to climate change and the need for environmentally sustainable development. Nonetheless, who is really willing to compromise on housing or style of living? Sustainable and environmentally friendly log houses have been made for thousands of years. But it is only recently, with Kontio’s reinvention of log architecture, that many people around the world have started to realise that log homes are not only cottages in the forest or Alpine chalets. Kontio’s log houses can also be modern homes in a town or city.

Collaboration between Kontio and Helsinki Fashion Week began in 2018, when Kontio created its Kontio Glass House™ pavilion for the EcoVillage at the event. The combination of ecological construction material and Kontio’s striking architecture caught the eye of many, both in Finland and internationally, who are interested in healthy building and living. This year, the location for Helsinki Fashion Week is Market Square, in the heart of the city. The Kontio Glass Cabin™, Kontio’s contribution to this year’s event, is slightly larger than last year’s building. The cabin will serve as both an info point and a garment repair workshops organized by designer Riina Salmi and her team. In addition Glass Cabin demonstrates to visitors of the allure of modern log architecture.

Kontio aims to inspire people to think about how housing and construction consume natural resources. Can buildings make a positive impact on climate change while still being attractive? Can houses be produced responsibly and in such a way that they will last even for centuries? The answer to both questions is the same: yes. Kontio’s log houses act as carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and retaining it for even hundreds of years.

Kontio has specialised in log buildings since the 1970s. The company creates environmentally sustainable, modern and distinctive log architecture that meets the environmental challenges of our time. In addition to homes, Kontio manufactures public buildings such as schools and service centres. And with Kontio’s groundbreaking SmartLog™ system, log apartment buildings are also a possibility. Kontio’s success is based on advanced Finnish building technology, daring log architecture, the use of healthy building materials, and uncompromising respect for nature. Kontio’s roots are in Finland, but the company supplies log buildings around the world.

Kontio has all the essentials for producing first-class log buildings without harming the planet: Arctic pine from sustainably managed forests in northern Finland, an environmentally friendly manufacturing line, and recyclable natural materials. Log buildings also withstand the test of time.

In addition to its aesthetic qualities, timber promotes wellbeing and provides the comfort that is expected of modern living. Choosing a Kontio log building means choosing healthy living and a close connection with nature. In a complicated world, it is a relief to be able to take comfort in the simple fact that log architecture reduces stress and creates a pleasant environment. The charm of log buildings is hard to resist: they are inherently calming, helping us to relax and enjoy the peace. As an extra bonus, there is the soothing fragrance of natural wood.

Far from being a fad, ecological architecture is the start of a new, more meaningful chapter in construction. When combined with ecologically sensitive architecture, sustainable living solutions reduce the consumption rate of fossil fuels while providing aesthetically pleasing experiences. The environment, communities and individuals all benefit.

 

Helsinki Fashion Week is held from 19 to 22 July 2019. To learn more, go to helsinkifashionweeklive.com

 

How to get to the Market Place

 

See Kontio's house models

FACTS:

  • Kontio uses traditional and ecologically friendly materials to create architecturally bold, beautiful and durable log houses and villas.
  • All Kontio’s log products are manufactured at the company’s factory in northern Finland. Kontio is in command of the whole production chain, from log to finished product. When processing the wood, nothing is wasted: every by-product is put to some use. As a result, Kontio’s wood processing system creates no landfill waste.
  • What is especially important from the environmental perspective is that Kontio’s side streams yield over 50 per cent more energy than Kontio’s factory consumes in the entire manufacturing process.
  • In addition, log buildings act as carbon sinks. The growing wood binds carbon, and when converted into logs this is then bound in the walls of the building, perhaps even for hundreds of years.
  • Kontio’s whole processing chain is guided by sustainable development, from the procurement of timber and verification of its origin right through to delivery to the customer.

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