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Wood-frame multi-storey construction (WMC) is enjoying a period of increasing popularity in the public domain, with ‘timber towers’ and ‘wooden skyscrapers’ being labelled as potential game changers. Yet, whilst WMC is growing in some European cities, it still remains a curiosity. The emergence of WMC is the result of decades of science, technology and innovation policy and entrepreneurial experimentation. The aim of this paper is to analyse the emergence and evolution of the Finnish WMC from a technological innovation system perspective; paying attention to niche creation and regime destabilisation functions and motors of creative destruction. We analyse two distinct periods of activity in WMC innovation. Both were stimulated by government interventions looking to encourage value-added activity for the forestry sector in light of external pressures. Our analysis of WMC innovation systems functions highlights …