Honka

Honka has sales representatives in more than 30 countries. They have 60 years of history, with over 85,000 projects built in more than 50 countries. It’s hard to find a log house builder with more collective experience. Honka projects use Finnish logs from the northern forests to construct individual houses, commercial housing, hotels, restaurants, schools and daycare centers, and health and well-being facilities. Make no mistake, this is a massive operation.

But let’s focus on their houses and cabins, of which Honka has many designs. They produce a new catalog each year, including adaptations and new designs to match changing trends in the housebuilding industry.

Honka homes are prefabricated with a high level of automation in the factory, and a comprehensive piece labeling system with the emphasis being on the ease of assembly on site. These are well suited for self-builders as the sturdy precision-cut labeled logs slot into place to create a weatherproof shell within a few weeks, providing the foundations are prepared in advance, and the Honka kit assembled pretty much on arrival, or in other words not left exposed to the weather for months.

Their Youtube series includes some very slick visuals of magic flying assembly, enough to make any self-builders mouth water.

Honka’s Sustainability Programme includes formalized efforts in the areas of Employee Well-being and Motivation, Responsible Purchasing, Eco-friendly Production, Sustainable Construction, and Healthy and Safe Living. There are innovations and certifications in all of these areas, but notably this year all of their factory energy will be supplied from renewable sources.