Wood is becoming increasingly popular as a building material globally, and records for the tallest wooden buildings are being broken ever more rapidly. Until now, it has been more common to hear about the tallest and largest office buildings, hotels, and residential blocks built from wood; however, in Finland, where approximately one in four schools and daycare centres is built of wood, the country's largest school with wood as its primary building material was completed last year.

The school is located in Imatra, a small town in eastern Finland with nearly 27,000 residents. The new school building, which opened its doors late last summer, covers approximately 16,500 square metres, is spread over two floors, and is designed for 1,400 pupils and daycare centre attendees. Prefabricated timber and concrete elements were used for the school's construction. The building is truly made of wood, as only its foundations, civil defence shelters, and stairs are made of concrete. Externally, the school is characterised by dark-stained wooden cladding and sloping roofs.