“The potential is enormous”

Here’s a mind-bending thought: Building a multi-family house in timber corresponds to the growth that takes place in the Swedish forest over just a few minutes. It may sound like an impossible equation – but it’s the kind of natural power our forests already hold.

Staffan Schartner, Adjunct Professor of Timber Architecture at Linnaeus University in Växjö and Kalmar, believes the construction industry of the future can be both climate-positive and profitable. And the solution is already out there – in our forests.

“Building with wood isn’t just a way to reduce climate impact. It can also be a driving force for forest restoration around the world,” he says.

Schartner is far from alone in seeing this potential. In southern Sweden – and especially in Småland – a unique concentration of expertise spans the entire forest value chain, from forestry and processing to research, architecture, and construction.

Staffan Schartners work and position is funded within the framework of The Bridge, a strategic partnership between Södra, Ikea, and Linnaeus University.

From raw material to relationships

Småland is a region built on careful resource management, long-term thinking – and always finding clever solutions, even when things seem impossible. Nowhere is this more visible than in the region’s approach to sustainable building.

Here, the construction industry is being developed in new directions – with less plastic, more circularity, and methods that allow buildings to be taken apart and rebuilt, again and again.

“We have to stop building wooden houses as if they were made of concrete,” says Schartner. “We need a new kind of architecture shaped by the properties of wood, and that’s exactly what we’re working on here.”

A growing market – with global relevance

As the world focuses on the climate crisis and rapid urbanisation in countries like Kenya and Uganda, Småland’s expertise becomes even more valuable. What’s found here isn’t just technology, but a willingness to share it.

“The potential is enormous. Some calculations show that we could build all the world’s houses in wood without reducing the number of trees in our forests,” says Schartner. “That requires responsible forestry and smarter construction, and we’re already showing it can be done.”

And it’s right here in Småland that you’ll find the skills, the networks – and the ingenuity – needed to transform the future of both the forest and the construction industries.

Swedish ingenuity in Dubai

Staffan Schartner was the project manager for the construction of the Swedish pavilion at the World Expo in Dubai 2021–2022. “The Forest” was built entirely of wood, without any structural steel or concrete, and designed to be dismantled and reused – ingenuity at its finest.