Martinsons – which was previously involved in the construction of Sara Kulturhus arts centre in Skellefteå, one of the world’s tallest wooden buildings – will now play a part in erecting another spectacular wooden building in the town. Campus ACE will be an energy-conserving building of around 8 000 square metres serving as a hub, testbed and laboratory environment for society’s electrification. The building will house the Arctic Center of Energy, among other things. It will be a centre of excellence run by Luleå University of Technology, Northvolt, Skellefteå Kraft and Skellefteå Municipality.

“The building will be a prime example of how we work with Holmen ‘from seed to building’ in a secure and sustainable value chain, providing expertise at every stage,” says Jonas Lindgren. “As we have natural access to the entire process, from forest raw material and manufacturing to project management and development, we are in control and can guarantee each phase.”

The building’s frame will be made of wood, in line with Skellefteå Municipality’s wood construction strategy and its ambitions regarding sustainable construction. Martinsons is developing, designing and supplying the timber frame, which is being manufactured at Holmen’s sawmill in Bygdsiljum. It will consist of 2 100 cubic metres of CLT and 950 cubic metres of glulam.

Peab is the turnkey contractor for the project and will assemble the Martinsons frame.

“Working with Martinsons feels like a safe bet – they have extensive expertise in constructing wooden office buildings,” says Jens Skoglind, resident engineer at Peab. “Our experience of working with glulam and CLT combined with Martinsons’ solid expertise means we have a strong team, ensuring the success of the project. Martinsons also prefabricates much of its output at Holmen’s sawmill in Bygdsiljum, which is only about 50 or so kilometres from the construction site, making it a good fit in terms of the project’s high sustainability ambitions.”

To provide quality assurance regarding these ambitions, the building will be certified to Zero CO2 (which aims to create climate-neutral buildings) and Gold Level in the Miljöbyggnad classification system (for buildings that perform well above average in terms of environmental performance, help achieve a better indoor environment and reduce the impact on climate).

Construction of Campus ACE will start in spring 2025 and is expected to be completed in 2027.