How to build an entire city out of timber? Oskar Norelius makes a case for wood architecture

Building with wood has always been part of White Arkitekter's DNA – and it is a topic increasingly on many architects' minds lately, too. In the search for sustainable architecture that can mitigate the risks brought on by climate change and other challenges of our times, creatives around the world have been looking at alternatives to the conventional building methods. So far, the latter have resulted in the construction industry's infamous reported 37% to 40% of global carbon emissions.

The road is not an easy one, as architecture studios navigate fashions, market forces, perceptions and regulations (which can all differ across territories) in the hunt for options. In this context, timber, one might argue, is not a new material at all. It has been in the design canon of the Nordic nations (and beyond) for centuries, and it's also a renewable resource when managed correctly. White Arktekter has been at the forefront of a global movement to spotlight timber as a go-to, no-brainer solution for contemporary architecture. We met with the practice's new CEO to hear about its exciting applications within White's growing portfolio.

Oskar Norelius of White Arkitekter on Wood City and more

2027 will mark 20 years at White Arkitekter for Oskar Norelius. The Swedish architect started at the studio as an intern and is now its youngest-ever CEO. The 550-strong firm, with bases in Sweden and the UK, handles work in a variety of territories, including Europe and Canada, and has carved a unique niche in timber building. This is not through small, experimental, one-off projects. It's about taking wood architecture and scaling it up – applying its construction techniques to high-rises, large-scale buildings, and even an entire city, as Wood City, an ongoing scheme in south Stockholm, proves. The long-term project is now entering its third year on site.

We caught up with Norelius to find out more about White, Wood City, and why building with timber is worth it.

Interview with Oskar Norelius

Wallpaper*: You have been with White Arkitekter for 20 years and are now CEO - congratulations!

Oskar Norelius: White, as a studio, is very non-hierarchical. Even as an intern, you get into a project, and you are in the room with the people making the decisions about the project. You learn a lot, and I think this is one of the reasons why many people in the industry in Sweden have worked at some point at White.

W*: How do you describe what the studio does? What is your strength?

ON: The thread that goes through all our projects is not going to be whether it's minimalist or maximalist or organic or parametric; that can vary depending on the planning situation, the project, the location, and the collaborators. The common thread is our approach and our process, which has long been people and sustainability.

W*: Tell me about Wood City. What an amazing case study to work on; there's nothing else like it.

ON: Wood City is a large development on the outskirts of Stockholm, in Sickla. And It's not just a showcase made to be published and talked about globally. It's the development of a place, a real project happening. It is unique and quite ahead of its time but also it is based on very rational decisions. It can be a challenge to imagine the new possibilities of timber at that scale, but once you put everything together, it makes sense. The site spans 250,000 square meters, and its development plan spans 15 years.

W*: What stage is the project in now?

ON: We are currently finishing the first block, and as soon as we have tenants, we will move on to the next, and then the next. Because of the long time scale, there will be some natural variation because what we're designing today is best practice for 2026; and what will be designed in 2032 will likely be different.

W*: How fast are things changing with timber construction?

ON: If you look at the number of buildings made with conventional construction techniques, it's huge. So the experience and the knowledge are very wide, and the building construction skills too – everything is aligned to produce more of those buildings. This has been built into the vision [of Wood City]. The successive buildout means that buildings will be designed at different times, as timber construction evolves. It's been five years since we delivered our Sara Cultural Centre [an award-winning, 20-storey cultural venue in Sweden's Skellefteå and one of the world's tallest timber buildings], which is a very tall and big building, and we learned there that it's not always a linear path towards 'better'. You have to keep working and evolving.

W*: Is Wood City a different beast to the Sara Cultural Centre?

ON: Wood City is not very tall, so we don't have those kinds of structural issues. But Sara was a very complex project, and in that, actually, it was our proof of concept in many ways. The most interesting part is how far you can push the vision, because working with this material gives so much, and I think a lot of people don't really realise the benefits you can get.

W*: What are some of the challenges?

ON: You can't just hire people coming in and telling you exactly how it's going to work. You need collaboration because you can't copy something that was done three years ago; the industry is evolving. You need to work with innovation. That means everyone needs to be open. And that's also the essence of what you asked earlier about our approach; if you start with openness and sustainability as your main direction, you get more freedom of design. We want to far exceed the ambitions for sustainability.

W*: And what of wood building's longevity; do timber structures age in a different way?

ON: They do, but the way that mass timber buildings are made today, it's not the wood that's going to limit the lifespan of the building. It's about adaptability, as at some point, people may not want to use them any more. A lot of the work on the structure has to be done at the same time as the programming to make sure that we can get columns in good locations that also allow very flexible use.

W*: Do you find the resistance to using timber is from the buyers, or is it actually the developers and construction?

ON: I think it's more within the industry than with the end user. I've never met anyone who said, I'd rather not have a timber building. The issue is often industry risk aversion.

W*: What kind of timber are you using, and where does it come from?

ON: This often varies depending on the project. The first element at Wood City is a combination of CLT (Cross-laminated timber) and Glulam (glued laminated timber). There are plenty of local resources in Sweden. In fact, there's an overcapacity right now in the country. Finding the timber is not the issue.

W*: What else is on your plate right now?

ON: We recently won a new development in Amsterdam – a smaller Wood City, if you will. This is going to be 500 homes in 20 buildings that are all made from mass timber, but also with biomaterials. So, there's a lot of experimentation. It's not in construction yet, but it might finish before Wood City.

W*: And in terms of completions?

ON: We just finalised a sports centre in Stockholm called Ulvsunda. It's a former brewery that we've transformed into the largest sports centre in the city.

W*: Beyond wood, are you looking into any other materials that you want to or have experimented with?

ON: Once you switch from conventional construction to timber, you open the door to all of the biobased materials that work really well with timber – for example, hemp, clay and lime chalk plaster.

W*: Where does nature, in the form of greenery and landscape, come into your designs?

ON: I think we have probably 100 landscape architects in the company, so it's a very big part of what we do. We have the technical knowledge, so how can we bring as much of it as possible into our designs? In Sweden, for example, we did this central plaza in Stockholm, Södermalmstorg, a very technical project with water management between the lake and the sea. The whole plaza is a bridge, and we planted these roofs, so it's a plaza, but it's actually a roof with a lot of greenery. You can get a lot of trees, a lot of green in a project like that. It's definitely something we're pushing.

whitearkitekter.com