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LVM Zemgale Region Customer Centre Takes the First Place in the “Wooden Structure” Nomination

The winners of the Latvian Construction Annual Award 2021 and the Latvian Construction Engineer of the Year 2021 were announced at the Āgenskans Market in Riga on 11 March. The annual award in the category “Wooden Structure” was awarded to the LVM Zemgale Region Customer Centre in Jelgava, the design of which was developed by SIA “5. iela”, built by SIA “Selva Būve”, whereas construction supervision was provided by SIA “Būves Birojs”.

LVM structures – both the new Zemgale Region Customer Centre in Jelgava and the North Kurzeme Region Customer Centre in Dundaga, which received the award “Best Building of the Year in Latvia 2016” – are distinguished by the use of environmentally friendly and innovative solutions. Building structures of the customer centre are made of exposed glued wood, insulation is made of wooden fibres, wall, ceiling and floor finish – of wooden materials. The volume of timber required for the customer centre building in Jelgava grows in Latvia's forests in just 25 minutes.

“JSC “Latvia's State Forests” as a project customer demonstrates the use of sustainable and smart materials in the construction of its regional customer centres. The developed project is being implemented in a number of different places – in Dundaga, Jelgava and it is planned to use it in Valmiera as well. The construction process is comparable to a forest – it is planted, grown, tended, just like in this case – a design competition is organised, design is developed, and it is further implemented in many places. Wood is a renewable resource and wood construction technologies will play an increasingly important role in the future. The use of wood in construction is becoming more and more popular – it is an environmentally friendly, sustainable material, which also looks great,” says Kristaps Ceplis, Head of the association “Zaļās mājas”.

All facilities submitted for the competition can be seen in the exhibition in Riga, in Līvu Square, until the end of April.

LVM's operations are based on sustainable management of State forest lands, providing the owner and society with the greatest benefit that can be gained from skilled forestry activities. The public is also increasingly being informed about the good qualities of wood and the economic benefits of using wood as a renewable natural resource. LVM also demonstrates the most successful examples of buildings elsewhere in the world.  

The Latvian Construction Annual Award competition has been taking place since 2014; during these years, it has justifiably become a leader in the context of other competitions, both with the number of applications and the quality of facilities. Organizers of the competition – association “Building Design and construction council”, www.buvniekupadome.lv.