Can a rubbish dump become a talking point and a meeting place for the locals? Well, yes. When the recycling centre in Lidingö, Sweden, was decorated with sculptures created from reclaimed materials a few years ago, it encouraged more sorting of waste for recycling and visitor numbers increased.
Thirty kilometres from Helsinki, Finland, Virkkunen & Co have created a recycling station that is designed to have as little environmental impact as possible. The structure primarily comprises CLT plus solid glulam beams and posts in Siberian larch. The wooden surfaces have been left exposed both internally and externally, and treated with white-pigmented protective wax, which prevents the wood from darkening in sunlight. The façades are also clad in Siberian larch, which takes the form of vertical panels, with the wood left untreated so that it will silver over time.
The station also produces its own energy through ground heat and solar panels. Since the site is an old seabed, almost all of the station had to be piled.
