Metsa Wood and the Plan B

Metsa Wood, a Finnish quality wood products producer, has developed a "Plan B" campaign, which aims to highlight the fact that wood should always be considered as a serious option in everything from design to construction.

Metsa Wood, a Finnish quality wood products producer, has developed a "Plan B" campaign, which aims to highlight the fact that wood should always be considered as a serious option in everything from design to construction. They have taken this a step further and applied this belief to buildings that have already been constructed, namely the Empire State Building. Together with world-­?known architect Michael Green, Metsa Wood has re-­?designed the iconic Empire State Building using wood as the main material.

The design and construction plan for a wooden version of the Empire State Building was made by Canadian architect Michael Green and his firm MGA. Internationally recognized leader in timber engineering, Equilibrium Consulting, provided expertise on structural matters. Metsa Wood's own material and construction experts rounded out the team.

In the 1920's the Empire State Building represented the innovations of structural steel and for nearly 40 years it was the tallest building in the world.

"While many things have changed in 85 years, architects still strive to give form to new ideas about structure, energy consumption, climate change and the list goes on. For these reasons the most iconic building of the modern age – the Empire State Building – was chosen for Plan B case. We designed a skyscraper using Metsa Wood's Kerto LVL engineered wood as the main material from floors to column spacing," explains Green.

Michael Green believes high-rise wooden buildings are not only possible, but may be the most practical and environmentally sound solution to addressing rapid global urbanization and climate change.

"I believe that the future belongs to tall wooden buildings. Significant advancements in engineered wood and mass timber products have created a new vision for what is possible for safe, tall, urban wood building. The challenge is now to change society's perception of what is possible. In fact, this is the first new way to build a skyscraper in the last 100 years," continued Green.

On top of being highly aesthetic, sustainable, light, and fast to construct, wood is a much more fireproof material than is often perceived.

"Wood construction is an ever-evolving business, and the market needs more innovative sustainable, faster and effective solutions," explains SVP Jari Tikkanen from Metsa Wood. "Metsa Wood is strong in Europe, with ambitious global growth targets in USA and Asia."

By challenging widely spread preconceptions and Plan B explores various possibilities of wood construction. As part of the project, Metsa Wood shows in detail how to build recognizable, but modern versions of world-­?known architectural buildings using wood as the main material. The concept targets mainly architects, constructions engineers and builders.

For more information the Plan B concept, you can visit Metsa Woods Website