Aalto University and Stora Enso have joined hands in building Finland. The outcome of the co-operation is the Aika (Time) stage for the public debate forum SuomiAreena, in Finland, in honour of Finland’s centenary year of independence. The base of the stage is made up of 50 laminated veneer lumber frames with 100 legs symbolising Finland’s era of independence.

Students at Aalto University’s Department of Architecture were given the challenge of designing a stage using Stora Enso’s LVL material in just 100 hours. The design had to be of high architectural quality and innovative, and meet the technical requirements of SuomiAreena. Antti Hannula and Antti Rantamäki, students of landscape architecture were selected winners of the competition.

“Stora Enso wants to promote the use of renewable materials and show what a tree can do. We have been involved in planning and organising several events that celebrate Finland 100 years. Through our participation in SuomiAreena, we can communicate the opportunities of building with wood as well as our other renewable solutions. The Aika stage will be implemented in the spirit of the centenary together with Aalto University, using high-quality Finnish wood material and design and processing expertise,” says Seppo Parvi, Stora Enso’s CFO and Country Manager Finland.

“At Aalto University, we are educating game changers who are able to see and combine science, arts and business in a new way. Aalto was recently ranked as one of world’s 55 technology challenger universities, and it maintains close contact with business and society at large. The Aika stage to be built for SuomiAreena is an outstanding piece of work, reflecting our values and ways of operating,” says Eero Eloranta, Aalto University’s Vice President of Education.

“The Aika stage will be one of the highlights of the week-long SuomiAreena event. Visitors can see anything but traditional panel debates on the stage. During the week, there will be cooking, innovations, business pitches, hackathons and a cavalcade of the most interesting projects of the Finland 100 programme,” says Mari Haavisto, Executive Producer of SuomiAreena.

The surface area of the Aika stage is 285 square metres, and the spectator area contains 150 seats. The stage will be built of Stora Enso’s structurally strong LVL, which is manufactured in Varkaus, Finland. The stage is covered with translucent Vitrea profiled glass.

The Aika stage will be built in front of the Sokos Hotel Vaakuna, at Gallen-Kallelankatu 7, Pori, for the duration of the SuomiAreena forum (10‒14 July 2017). Once the event is over, the stage will be moved to Aalto University’s campus in Otaniemi, Espoo, to enrich the lives of students and the public.