Metsä Wood and its partners have designed a hybrid sandwich wall element, which will renew offsite construction. The innovation combines concrete with Kerto® LVL (laminated veneer lumber). The lighter weight of the hybrid sandwich wall elements proved to be a valuable benefit in the first construction project at Metsä Fibre’s Rauma sawmill.
The production of the new hybrid sandwich wall elements, which are used in the sawmill’s log sorting building, went as planned at the precast element manufacturer Lipa-Betoni’s factory. This is the first time the factory produced hybrid wall elements.
In the production of a hybrid sandwich wall element, a Kerto LVL panel forms the load-bearing core. This is followed by an insulation layer and reinforced concrete facade.
“After overcoming the initial challenges, the production of the hybrid sandwich wall elements has been as easy as the production of concrete sandwich elements. We have succeeded in this thanks to the close cooperation with and extensive know-how of our partners,” says Satu Lipsanen, CEO of Lipa-Betoni.
The sorting building will be ready by the end of 2021. The sawmill is planned to be ready in Q3 2022.
Metsä Wood is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of engineered wood products. Metsä Wood is part of Metsä Group.
