A new timber building, featuring the second tallest wooden tower in the world, which opened recently in the Swedish city of Skelleftea could capture nine million kilogrammes of carbon dioxide throughout its lifetime of "at least 100 years".

Swedish architecture studio White Arkitekter designed the 20-storey, 75-metre-high Sara Kulturhus Centre from over 12,000 cubic metres of wood - harvested from forests just 60km from the town.

Built from a combination of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued laminated timber (glulam), the Sara Kulturhus Centre includes a theatre, gallery, library, museum and a hotel.

A geothermal heat pump and 1,200 square metres of solar panels on the building's roofs will provide the majority of the power to the building, while the remainder will be supplied from renewable sources.

White Arkitekter hopes that the building showcases how the carbon impact of buildings can be reduced or negated. The Sara Kulturhus Centre design is also part of the design studio's pledge that by 2030, every building it designs be carbon neutral.

The cultural centre which opened last year in Skelleftea, just south of the Arctic circle in northern Sweden, is one of a number of wooden constructions in the area. Other wooden builds include a timber bridge stretching across the local river, and a three-storey parking garage in the city centre.

Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine's Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living