UPM Grada on a striking role in Helsinki Airport’s new Suvanto lounges

(UPM Plywood, Lahti, 8 May 2012 at 10:00 EET) – UPM, Finavia, Martela, Fortum, Karelia-Upofloor and Clear Channel have created a lounge concept, called Suvanto, at Helsinki Airport. Suvanto is an oasis comprising work and rest locations, where people can work and relax. Suvanto also provides recharging stations for different electronic devices.

The Suvanto concept has been created as a joint World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 project by UPM Plywood and partner companies. It will be a visible part of the Design Capital Year offering at Helsinki Airport all the way to 2013. A total of three Suvanto lounges will be built at the airport.

Suvanto furniture has been designed by Martela's Main Designer Pekka Toivola in cooperation with Interior Decoration Architect Iiro Viljanen. A plywood arc, which is made from UPM's formable UPM Grada plywood and "protects" the person using the chair, is the most striking feature of the furniture. "Implementing form-pressed pieces of this size by traditional means would be very expensive. However, the shaping features of the UPM Grada plywood enabled this at a feasible cost," says Kaido Kukk, Development Director at UPM Plywood.

UPM Grada Plywood is based on UPM’s patent pending Grada composite technology which enables plywood to be formed after manufacturing. Whereas the traditional form pressing process contains much labour intensive phases, UPM Grada Plywood only needs to be heated, formed and cooled.  Due to the special adhesive used in UPM Grada Plywood, components made of it are stronger and more stable than traditional form pressed components.

UPM Grada Plywood is particularly suitable to conform to ever growing demand for safer furniture. The adhesive of plywood is free from formaldehyde and other harmful compounds. As the furniture is also stronger, their durability in hard wearing uses is better, reducing need for maintenance and renewal.

UPM Grada Plywood is manufactured of certified wood raw material, ensuring that sustainable forest management and harvesting practices have been followed. The material can also be safely recycled or used as a carbon neutral source of energy at the end of life.

As a frontrunner of bio and forest industry UPM takes part in design by developing new sustainable materials and businesses, which inspires architects and designers. UPM’s Plywood products are also impressively displayed also in the unique meeting place of WDC Helsinki, in Pavilion, which is a result from a collaboration between UPM, Aalto University, Design Museum, Museum of Finnish Architecture and World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 foundation.

Finavia’s press release and pictures of Suvanto lounges:
http://www.finavia.fi/press/pressreleases/finavia_releases/finavia_release?id=8754210
http://finavia.materialbank.net/NiboWEB/finavia/showCartPublicContent.do?uuid=1998977&random=331175&lang=fi


For further information please contact:
Mr Kaido Kukk, Development Director, UPM, Plywood, tel. +358 40 776 4751
Mr Mikko Tilli, Project Manager, UPM Plywood, tel. +358 40 674 3809

UPM, Corporate Communications
Media Desk, tel. +358 40 588 3284
media@upm.com
 

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 24,000 people and it has production plants in 16 countries. UPM's annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com

UPM Plywood offers high-quality WISA® plywood and veneer products mainly for construction and transport industries as well as the formable UPM GradaTM Plywood for furniture and manufacturing industries. The sales of UPM Plywood in 2011 were EUR 376 million and it has about 2,500 employees. UPM has six plywood mills and a veneer mill in Finland and plywood mills in Russia and Estonia. – www.wisaplywood.com