UPM design products showcased at Habitare

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– UPM products will be showcased at the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 pavilion

(UPM, Helsinki, 13 September 2011 at 9.30 EET) – UPM is strongly mitted to develop design based on sustainable construction. As one of the main corporate sponsors for World Design Capital Helsinki 2012, UPM will manufacture a WDC-pavilion made from its durable and recyclable wood products and posites.

The temporary pavilion will be built in spring 2012 in an empty lot between Design Museum and the Museum of Finnish Architecture in Helsinki.

"As a frontrunner of bio and forest industry UPM takes part in design by developing new materials and businesses, which inspires architects and designers," says Ms. Elisa Nilsson, UPM’s Vice President for Brand Management.

New wood based-products and totally new formable plywood

Launched this summer, UPM Living product family introduces a new and fresh approach to the design of wood-based products for interior decoration and construction with its high-quality building materials and exciting home decoration ideas.

Totally new dimension to products made from wood can be achieved with UPM Grada. It is based on UPM's patent pending Grada posite technology which enables plywood to be formed after manufacturing. The innovation is a result of years of research and development by UPM Plywood and it enables furniture manufacturers to revolutionize their form pressing supply chain, cut costs and to enhance production efficiency.

Pearls of design co-operation

Number of design-related examples shows UPM’s deep mitment to the design industry. In 2010 an innovative UPM ProFi wood plastic posite material received two important recognitions: Green Good Design Award and Sustainable Innovation Management Prize.

Thanks to UPM ProFi posite, several pearls of design and architectural pearls have already been created: the award-winning ‘Kirnu’ pavilion was covered by ultramodern posite shingles at the Shanghai World Expo 2010, Artek Pavilion at the 2007 Milan Furniture Fair, 10-UNIT SYSTEM furniture range designed by Shigeru Ban for Artek in 2008 and a recently published terrace furniture concept designed by Harri Koskinen and made from WISA birch plywood and UPM ProFi Deck.

UPM material has also been used for building a design hotel. The Wisa Wooden Design Hotel was the result of a design petition organised by UPM in 2009. Its construction took into account the diverse possibilities and environmental aspects of wood.

UPM will launch new wood products at the Habitare exhibition at the Helsinki Fair Centre. UPM will organise a press conference at the Living Design Lounge on Wednesday 14 September at 11.30 am. Furthermore, you can find UPM Living products at Habitare at the Puuinfo stand 6h69. Also the formable UPM Grada plywood will be showcased at the fair, at stand 7n19.

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Elisa Nilsson, Vice President, Brand Management, UPM, elisa.nilsson@upm., tel. +358 40 500 3150

UPM, Corporate Communications

Media Desk, tel. +358 40 588 3284

media@upm.

UPM & Design press kit:

http://www.upm./EN/MEDIA/Press-kits/UPM-Design/Pages/default.aspx

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 24,500 people and it has production plants in 16 countries. UPM's annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.

UPM Living manufactures durable, beautiful and recyclable wood-based products for consumers and industry. Made of certified wood raw material, the hiqh-quality products are basis for interior decoration and construction. The UPM Living business area has 7 factories. The anual production capacity of wood products is 420.000 m3. The business area is part of UPM Forest and Timber business area. www.upmliving.fi

UPM Plywood offers high-quality WISA plywood and veneer products mainly for construction, transport and furniture industries. The sales of UPM Plywood in 2009 were EUR 306 million and it has about 2,600 employees. UPM has 6 plywood mills and 2 veneer mills in Finland, a plywood mill in Russia and a plywood mill in Estonia. www.wisaplywood.

The UPM ProFi business area develops, produces, markets and sells high-quality

posite products for a variety of end uses. UPM ProFi is an innovative and environmentally friendly material that uses recycled paper and plastic from label stock production as its main raw material. Further information is available at www.upmprofi.