Satu Huuhka - Recreate

February 24, 2026

Author: Satu Huuhka, Tampere University

ReCreate’s Finnish cluster shares news about its new mini-pilots. This is the second of them. You can read about the first one here. Stay tuned for more info on the third mini-pilot, which will follow shortly!

The second Finnish mini-pilot was implemented in summer 2025 in conjunction with the construction of the industrial production complex ‘Lokomotion Technology Centre’, which Skanska is building for the client Metso in the Lahdesjärvi district of Tampere. It involved reusing 27 hollow-core slabs in two buildings: a small self-standing building with technical spaces, and staff facilities located as ‘space within a space’ inside a larger industrial hall.

As opposed to the first mini-pilot where the elements were reused in intermediate floors, here the hollow-core slabs were employed in roofs. A different application of the same type of elements contributed to new learnings, as different requirements can posed on elements depending on where and how they are used, for example with regard to surface smoothness or outwardly appearance. In addition, different construction projects can have individual processual requirements for how the reuse is integrated as a part of the whole with elements made of virgin materials, regarding e.g. the assembly order and suitable assembly equipment. Organising logistics is another consideration when reused and virgin elements come from different suppliers, though this is not essentially different from regular building projects, which can also have a large number of suppliers for various construction products.

Like all elements in ReCreate’s Finnish reuse pilots, also the ones used in the second mini-pilot originated from the same donor building in Tampere city centre, originally built in the early 1980s and deconstructed by the ReCreate partners in autumn 2023. The distance between the original donor building site and the reuse site in Lahdesjärvi is 7 km.

Before reuse, the elements were refurbished by Consolis Parma. The ‘economy of scale’ of the second and third mini-pilots, together with the commercial reuse project that occurred in parallel, enabled Parma to temporarily dedicate a factory line in Nummela for the refurbishment of reclaimed hollow-core slabs. This helped to improve the efficiency of the refurbishment process, as opposed to the more customised approach of the first mini-pilot.

Ramboll Finland acted as the structural designer, responsible for all structural engineering aspects of the reuse in this pilot, including all the documentation for a site-specific approval process. The first mini-pilot set the foundations for how to conduct the approval process with the local building inspection authorities, and it was replicated in this pilot.

The mini-pilot successfully showcased the viability of reused elements in industrial buildings and as a part of a particularly complex and extensive construction project.

ReCreate’s Finnish cluster is formed by Tampere University, Skanska, Consolis Parma, Ramboll Finland, Umacon, LIIKE architects, and the City of Tampere.

Video & photo credit: Creamframe / Mikko Laaksonen

by ReCreate project

February 17, 2026

Authors: Jyrki Tarpio & Tapio Kaasalainen, Tampere University

A Circular Economy Course is held for fourth– and fifth–year architecture students at Tampere University each year. In 2025, the students’ assignment was to study how to reuse load-bearing structural precast concrete elements deconstructed from an office building in new-build multifamily housing. The Finnish deconstruction pilot building of the ReCreate project, the load-bearing structural elements of which were dismantled in 2023, acted as a reference donor building in the course.

Figure 1. Load-bearing elements of the Finnish donor building. Axonometric images and floor plan of a standard floor, excluding stairs. Image: Tapio Kaasalainen (adapted from an original plan drawing by Suunnittelutieto Oy).

A combination of hollow-core floor slabs, massive concrete slabs, columns, beams, and wall elements formed the load-bearing structure of the office building. Architecture students were asked to utilise these elements, bearing in mind that hollow-core slabs can be cut shorter or narrower and massive slabs shorter, but other elements must be used in their original size. Instead of being asked to design new buildings themselves, the students were handed drawings of two recently constructed apartments buildings in Tampere. Their task was to examine how to use the reclaimed elements as the load-bearing structure of one of the two reference apartment buildings maintaining its shape, main dimensions, and housing unit allocation (i.e. size and number of apartments). The main challenge was caused by the fact that the load-bearing structure used in both reference cases consists of walls and slabs, but the students had to mainly apply a column-beam-slab structure designed for a different building type and function. The task was limited to examining one recurring floor of one reference building per a student pair. To keep the workload manageable and focused, students were instructed to apply the reference buildings’ exterior wall structures as-is, even though in reality some modifications might be needed due to the altered overall structure.

Figure 2. Reuse applied to a rectangular apartment building. Column, beam, and wall reuse (coloured parts) shown on the left, slab reuse on the right. Design and images: Helmi Haapalainen & Viola Rytkönen.

Of the two references, the case ‘rectangular apartment building’ shared basically the same building depth as the office building, but its length was shorter. This made it possible to use nearly the same structural composition in the apartment building as in the original office building. The design by students Helmi Haapalainen and Viola Rytkönen (Fig. 2) reuses most slabs in their original or nearly original length, with two massive slabs and one hollow-core slab shortened notably and one hollow-core slab cut narrower. In the design, the locations of bathrooms and WCs are slightly modified so that they are concentrated in the middle of the building on the zone consisting of massive floor slabs. This arrangement is beneficial for organising plumbing and vertical building service stacks in a cost-effective way and also allows horizontal runs ”within” the inverted-U-shaped slab. The columns and beams are generally placed so that they don’t diminish the functionality of the rooms. However, in one room there is a slight aesthetic compromise with a beam running across it in the middle.

Figure 3. Reuse applied to the cut-corner apartment building. Column and beam reuse (coloured parts) on the left, slab reuse on the right. Design and images: Minttu Puustinen & Veetu Varala.

The shape and overall dimensioning of the other case, the ‘cut-corner apartment building’, was more challenging. Its frame depth is approximately one metre narrower and its length is shorter than the office building’s. However, students Minttu Puustinen and Veetu Varala proved in their design (Fig. 3) that, utilising the given columns, beams, and hollow-core slabs creatively, the load-bearing structure can be implemented successfully. They reused longer beams on both sides of the building and suggested a short new special beam in the middle of the building frame as well as shortened most hollow-core slabs—mostly cut only moderately, but some more extensively. The moderate cuts were similar in length to what might be required when salvaging some slabs in any case, although on the course all components were assumed to be as originally designed. Additionally, they narrowed one slab zone near the middle to fit the whole design into the required frame depth. With one exceptional column and beam location, they managed to fit the columns and beams along the party wall or walls separating apartments.

Concluding notions

Twelve groups of architecture students provided slightly different designs to the two reference buildings. In general, all students were able to grasp the idea of structural reuse with the notion that some additional material layers need to be installed on reused slabs and walls to meet the current soundproofing requirements of domestic spaces. As the final part of the course, the students made calculations on the embodied CO2 emissions and corresponding CO2 savings with their suggested reuse solution.

Most student designs had lower embodied emissions than the original reference buildings even without reuse (Fig. 4). This was largely due to the post and beam structure inherently reducing the amount of concrete used. Many designs also reused concrete panels from partition walls, in partition walls. These were thinner than are typically found in new construction, and thus even with added sound insulation led to lower emissions even for the ‘without reuse’ scenario which assumed virgin materials for the same structures. In contrast, however, in the same scenario a few student designs ended up exceeding the reference case’s emissions when concrete panels were used where not necessarily needed, such as under a beam along an apartment boundary.

Figure 4. Embodied emissions in the reference cases and corresponding student designs. Each design comprises a single storey of a single stairwell unit in the middle of a building. Thus there is no roof or foundations included, and floor slabs are only counted once. Each pair of columns corresponds to a single design, with the ‘without reuse’ scenario (all virgin materials) on the left and ‘with reuse’ on the right.

Based on feedback, the students found the course interesting and considered the skills acquired relevant for their future work as architects. Many specifically pointed out the technical design aspects and emission calculations as being important and at the same time something they had not learned to the same extent in other parts of the degree.

The course was organised in collaboration with ReCreate and supervised by Prof. Satu Huuhka, Dr. Tapio Kaasalainen, and Dr. Jyrki Tarpio.

by ReCreate project

May 22, 2023

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The ReCreate project consortium recently held a highly productive meeting in Eindhoven, organized by the Dutch country cluster leader, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). The event spanned three days and brought together consortium members from various countries to share insights, discuss joint publications, and provide updates on the project’s progress.

ReCreate

The meeting commenced with a PhD workshop on the first day, where attendees had the opportunity to present their research and engage in fruitful discussions on potential collaborations for future publications. This workshop laid the foundation for knowledge exchange and collaboration among the participants.

On the second day, the main event took place. After a brief introduction by TU/e, a ReCreate consortium general meeting was held. During this session, each country cluster provided updates on their respective progress, fostering a comprehensive understanding of the project’s advancement. A project steering committee meeting followed, where strategic decisions and action plans were discussed to ensure smooth project management.

ReCreate

In a generous gesture, ReCreate country cluster leader TU/e organized a tour of their Structures laboratory, offering valuable insights into the scientific principles behind the ReCreate project. Attendees had the opportunity to witness firsthand the processes underpinning the project’s innovative approach. Additionally, TU/e showcased other intriguing projects being undertaken by their students, further enriching the participants’ knowledge.

Furthermore, the meeting included presentations by the ReCreate Work Package leaders, who shared updates on the progress within their specific areas. This allowed for cross-pollination of ideas and ensured that everyone was well-informed about the advancements across the project as a whole.

ReCreate

The third day of the meeting was dedicated to a visit to the Lagemaat storage yard. Here, consortium members had the unique opportunity to examine the elements extracted from the Prinsenhof donor building in Arnhem. Lagemaat and IMd, leading companies in the field, provided valuable insights into the business case of deconstructing buildings and delved deep into the structural engineering aspects of deconstruction. This visit offered a practical perspective on the project’s goals and highlighted the importance of sustainable building practices.

In conclusion, the ReCreate project consortium meeting in Eindhoven was a resounding success. It facilitated collaboration, knowledge sharing, and practical exploration of the project’s objectives. The event not only strengthened the bonds among consortium members but also contributed to the advancement of sustainable building practices through innovative research and engineering approaches.

ReCreate

by ReCreate project

May 8, 2023

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The awesome people and organizations working on the ReCreate project continue to be recognized by their peers and the wider community. This time, we are proud to announce that our very own project coordinator, Satu Huuhka, has received the annual Sustainable Development award from the Finnish Association of Architects for her work and contribution towards achieving circularity in the construction sector through the projects she is heading, one of which is the ReCreate project.

Upon receiving her reward, Prof. Satu Huuhka said that she believes that the circular economy is now really taking off and that she can already see a future where factory-renovated concrete elements are on the warehouse shelf waiting for new projects.

However, this was not the only reward where the ReCreate project was recognized. Tampere University, specifically the Faculty of Built Environment, also received an award for the Advancement of the sustainable built environment because of their involvement in the ReCreate project.

Seeing our partners and their hard work recognized fills us with pride and motivates us to carry the project forward. We congratulate everyone on the received awards and we look forward to seeing what lies ahead for the project!

by ReCreate project

January 18, 2023

ARQ magazine, a non-profit architecture magazine published by Ediciones ARQ of the
School of Architecture at the Universidad Católica de Chile, published an article on the ReCreate project!

Swedish country cluster leader and esteemed professors Erik Stenberg and Jose Hernandez Vargas, along with our project coordinator and associate professor at Tampere University Satu Huuhka, shared their knowledge on the project and what it wants to achieve.

The article showcases the reasoning, as well as the historic and environmental context behind the idea for the ReCreate project, as well as the methodology and technology that underpin the project. Also, they give a breakdown of the pilot buildings, what were their functions before deconstruction and what elements will be gained from it.

But don’t take our word for it! You can check it out yourself by clicking on the link here!

by ReCreate project

January 3, 2023

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The success of the ReCreate project would not be possible without the expertise of people that stand behind it. Our first interviewee is Satu Huuhka – the project coordinator and the person most responsible for its inception. Ivan Fratrić of the Croatia Green Building Council will be conducting the interview. Here is her story:

I: Hi Satu! Can you introduce yourself a bit, tell us about your background, your role, as well as the role of your organization in the project?

Satu: I’m an associate professor of sustainable renovation at Tampere University School of Architecture. Tampere University is coordinating the organization and implementation of the project and I’m the scientific coordinator and basically the project is my brainchild as ReCreate was born of my initiative. I’m originally an architect and the topic of my masters degree was regarding the reuse of concrete or reusing different kinds of building parts and materials, but with a special focus on precast concrete. Interestingly, the inspiration for my masters thesis came from a relative of mine who sent me newspaper clippings of topics that I would possibly be interested in and one of those clippings was on the topic of reuse in Germany which I found the most intriguing and which incidentally described the work of professor Angelika Mettke who has worked on the topic for 20 years at that time and who would eventually join the leadership here on ReCreate. As for the idea for the project, it began with my colleague Jukka Lahdensivu who is the Work Package 4 leader and eventually ended up as multidisciplinary research, not just architectural and civil engineering, and employing a more holistic approach. My university supports preparing and coordinating proposals so I received a little grant to start building the consortium. Then we traveled to meet people from KTH and other organizations with whom we had previous contact and that we knew had suitable expertise to join the project. That’s how it started.

I: What was your initial idea when forming the consortium? What was the reasoning behind structuring it the way it is? How was the idea for the project received by the partners?

Satu: The idea for the country clusters was present from the beginning and was influenced by another project we are involved in which is called CIRCuIT which is coordinated by the city of Copenhagen but we’re a partner and a WP leader. I think that worked well in CIRCuIT and it made sense for ReCreate because we’re working with buildings, and construction is quite a local activity. It made sense to find universities to be country cluster leaders as they have the capacity to handle the management side of things, the bureaucracy, as well as because of their connections to the local organizations and industry partners that would address this issue in their countries. Everybody was really positive when they heard about the idea for the project and they immediately wanted to be on board, especially the universities. There was some difficulty with industrial partners as we had some talks with organizations that weren’t interested in the end, but our connections enabled us to find partners that wanted to be part of the project.

I: In essence, the universities immediately saw the potential of the project, while the industry needed more nudging in that direction.

Satu: The core activity of universities is research and development, but I think that industry partners were a bit weary of the bureaucracy which these projects entail. That is also why it was important to have these universities at the core of the country clusters to help the companies with the bureaucracy and to take the load off reporting away from companies as much as possible.

I: Of course, so they can focus on the development and implementation of the project.

Satu: Exactly, yes

I: Returning back to you. You said that the project is your brainchild and that it is personally very important to you. Why do you think, on a broader scale, the project is important and what is its ultimate goal?

Satu: It goes without saying that climate change is an issue, along with other environmental issues such as diminishing availability of sand and gravel in some locations. I think that now there’s a consensus in the construction sector that there’s need for change in the way how we’re building. Many European countries are even introducing legislation that requires low-carbon building – and not just with regards to the energy in operation. It is starting to be realized in the construction sector that manufacturing the materials for construction is also carbon intensive and that reusing building parts such as precast concrete helps to reduce that embodied carbon because in that case you don’t need to produce new material as you can just harvest existing elements from buildings that have been slated for demolition, which presents huge potential to cut embodied emissions as professor Mettke’s research has shown, and that’s the reason why we should look into reuse as concrete is used widely and is very carbon intensive as its a heavy material.

Satu Huuhka

I: You’ve mentioned the potential for the reduction of greenhouse gasses and the depletion of raw materials. Do you have any other aspects of the project that you personally find most exciting and compelling?

Satu: I’d say its the multidisciplinary approach that we have. It’s fantastic that we have all these experts in their respective fields, which includes practical experts of the industry partners. The fact that we have these pilot buildings is also really important as I found through my own research that we have reached the limit on what we can do alone as researchers without actually trying it in practice. Since now we have these pilot buildings, our experts can really put their thought into it and what can become reality eventually – not just in the construction aspect, but also in business, the environmental impact, the social impact and how work is changing, what are the architectural implications are, what it means for logistics and digitalization. Seeing all these experts work together is really inspirational for me as I feel that we’re really making a step forward with reuse thanks to all of their expertise.

I: There’s no lack of exciting aspects to the project, but its sheer scope and complexity surely brings some sort of challenges with it. In your view, what is the most challenging aspect of ReCreate?

Satu: Before we started, I already had a preconception that we might have a conflict of interest between the partners or that maybe there would be a risk that the industrial partners would change their minds on whether this is something worth pursuing, but these concerns were not realized at all. All the partners are really invested. The most challenging aspect actually is aligning the ReCreate project timeline with the real world building project timeline, because we don’t want to do something that isn’t really needed as we’d like for the pilots to be buildings that would stay, which is not the case with the Swedish pilot, but in principle, we would like the buildings to stay, so we need these real world collaborations outside of the project to find suitable building projects. That has been a challenge in many locations and we are still working on it. The timelines of building projects are variable – sometimes things happen quickly and in other cases things can stop for years and can then be picked up again eventually.

I: Do you think that negative impact is short-termed or that it could create further issues down the line?

Satu: It’s more about the moment we’re in as it reminds us here in Europe that it’s important for us to be self – sufficient with building materials to mitigate these supply chain uncertainties in the global geopolitical landscape, which also then creates a strong argument for reusing materials that we have here at home.

I: We’ve touched upon it a bit, but I wanted to hear more from your perspective. The ReCreate project entails four different pilots, from four different countries, with a multitude of organizations and companies involved. How do you handle the coordination of all of that as it must be a challenge in itself?

Satu: It is challenging and I’m really lucky that I don’t have to do it alone. Soili Pakarinen’s help as the administrative coordinator is really valuable because she helps everybody with the financial reporting and the country cluster leaders (the universities) are my main contact point to the industrial partners in the other countries and vice versa as sometimes there are language issues as it’s easier for people to operate in their own languages. It is a team effort and Soili, the country cluster leaders, as well as work package leaders are very valuable. So basically I’m not alone because I’m surrounded and helped by brilliant people.

I: The project is really ambitious and we’ll definitely have something exciting to show at the end of it. How do you see the future of the ReCreate project? What kind of impact would you like for the project to have?

Satu: I hope that the industrial partners will be able to integrate the ReCreate approach into their daily business activities and that they will be able to provide these goods, services and expertise. That is our main pathway to impact – that these products and services become available on the market through our industrial partners. I’m also dedicated to keep helping them through new projects if there are still things that remain to be developed. Personally, I’m prepared to help other companies that want to engage in similar projects. Of course, there are also open access documents and publication that will be available for scientists, industry people and even regular people interested in the topic.

I: Thank you Satu for the interview. To end on a more personal note – who is Satu Huuhka and what does she like to do in her free time when she’s not managing the ReCreate project?

Satu: I’m a very work-oriented person but sometimes I do other things in my free time. I like to cook, read detective stories like good-old Agatha Christie. When I have more time, I like to do something with my hands. For example, I live in a traditional wooden Finnish house and I do the conservation work with my husband. Things like window conservation and new felt roofing on the outhouse, as well as furniture conservation.

Satu Huuhka