InnoRenew CoE recently completed construction of the largest wooden building in Slovenia, which began last January in Izola’s Livade district.

The research institute’s new building stands on 8,200 square meters, and it is a hybrid combination of timber, concrete and steel. Construction of the €11 million building was co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund. In the next two months, the institute’s mobile research equipment, currently located in rented premises in Izola and Koper, will be moved to the new premises.

“We have eight laboratories in the building in which we will study chemical properties of various materials as well as microscopically study the structure of wood and other renewable materials,” Dr. Andreja Kutnar, InnoRenew CoE director, said.

“I would like to point out that digitalization, and how we can build healthy living environments with the help of advanced information technologies, is an important part of our new premises.”

The upper three floors of the main building are entirely wooden. The building houses offices, meeting rooms and research laboratories.

“Wood creates comfort, and one of InnoRenew CoE’s tasks is to prove this in a scientific way and to determine the optimal amount of wood in the living environment that causes regeneration,” Eva Prelovšek Niemelä, InnoRenew CoE architect and researcher, added.

In the TV Koper video post, “Pod isto streho”, there is more information about the characteristics of the InnoRenew CoE building and how 70 researchers and staff are searching for solutions to assist European companies in the forest-timber value chain (in Slovene).