http://img50.photobucket.com/albums/v152/SdeS0/efhrp.gif
version 2.0 (beta - work in process)

I wish to express my thanks to every Finnish forumer who has contributed to this thread so far. Without you guys it would have been impossible to include all these projects, because I wouldn't know about them. I will continue updating this thread as we learn more. The future looks brighter than ever for Finnish high-rise enthusiasts, which is a good thing because we've got a lot of catching up to do!








BIOTORNI, TURKU
status: approved

Turku (population 170 000 inhabitants, about 400 000 in the region) is Finland's oldest city and the former capital. Located in southwestern Finland, it is a very vibrant and interesting city.


http://www.turkusciencepark.com/TSP/www_fi.nsf/park_kartta.jpg

Map that shows the entire Turku Science Park area. The city center is located in the west, starting from the Turku Cathedral (see the map). (COPYRIGHT: Turku Science Park)


Turku Science Park ( www.turkusciencepark.fi ) is the most important concentration of high-technology companies in the region. Situated in the vicinity of three universities and two polytechnics, its location is extremely ideal for business. Helsinki is less than two hours away and can be reached via a high-speed train or the Turku highway, the most modern highway in Finland.

Bioengineering and life sciences are one of the fastest growing fields of business in the world and in the Turku Science Park. Although half of Finnish bioengineering companies are already located in Turku, the growth is expected to continue. Granted, bio companies aren't doing that well right now, but that is common for all new areas of business (everyone remember the dotcom boom and how only the brightest, most capable companies survived?).

One of the most interesting buildings that they intend to build to Turku Science Park will be Biotorni (torni = tower).


http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/BIO_TORNI.jpg

Biotorni (copyright: Schauman Arkkitehdit)


Biotorni will contain research laboratories, offices and temporary accomondation areas for visiting researchers. Standing 16 stories tall, it will be the tallest building in Turku once completed. At the moment the construction date is unclear, but construction is expected to start once the market situation becomes better.


http://www.bioturku.fi/upload/pictures/lo_res/bio3.jpg

Biotorni (this is the old design) and its surroundings. (copyright: BioTurku / Turku Science Park)







15 STORY RESIDENTIAL TOWER, JYVÄSKYLÄ
status: approved

The city of Jyväskylä in central Finland is the 9th largest city in the country with a population of 76 000 inhabitants. One of its growing areas is the Lutakko district, located right next to the downtown.

By the lake is a row of several 10+ story residentials and little closer to the city centre is the 15 story Innova high-rise, which is currently the tallest building in Jyväskylä.


http://www.lutakko.com/innova.jpg

Innova office high-rise (copyright lutakko.com)


Lutakko is considered a succesful modern urban area and it has brought new life to the city.



http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/tiedotus/lehti/pict/kaava_lutakko_brv5u1.jpg

The new residential. (copyright: Jyväskylä lehti)


By the bridge leading to city will rise a 15 story residential high-rise, designed by Tuomo Siitonen. Details are unclear, but the city seems to have approved the project.










POSSIBLE HOTEL ILVES ENLARGEMENT, TAMPERE
status: not certain

With population of 201 000 (metro population approximately 350 000) the city of Tampere is the largest inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a special place in my heart, for I lived there three great years of my life as a kid. Hotel Ilves, the best-known building in Tampere, is also responsible for starting my high-rise interest. This 68 meter tall hotel, located in the heart of the downtown, has a shopping mall next to (a bit like Europa Mall in NCC). It was built in 1986.

Grendy reported that Sokos, the hotel chain to which Ilves belongs to, intends to enlarge Ilves' capacity by either building an additional low-rise building near the hotel, or by extending the height of the current building by four or five floors.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/ilves.jpg

Hotel Ilves in the summer of 2003 (copyright: me)





FENIX SIRIUS, TAMPERE
status: approved

In the 1980's the city of Tampere was determined to give the city a new look and there were real plans to build three or four 40 story skyscrapers to Tampella area, northern part of the city centre. Alas, the economic depression that followed in the early 90's killed those plans. Right now the plans regarding the area are slightly less amazing: mid-rises and one 15 story office high-rise, called Fenix Sirius. It will be 60 meters tall.


http://www.tpu.fi/~t1karola/skyhigh/fenix.jpg

Construction of Fenix Sirius should start this year. Things are, however, uncertain at the moment.





RADISSON SAS, TAMPERE
status: approved, but pending permission from the court

In 2001 the city of Tampere approved the plans to build a 24 story high-rise hotel to downtown. 76 meter tall building would rise next to old, abandoned train halls from early 20th century. According to the deal made with Radisson, the halls would be fully renovated.


http://www.tammistoknuutila.fi/kauppakamarilehti/Lehtiarkisto/2002/2-02/Kuvat/tallit.jpg

The area today. (copyright: Tampereen kauppakamarilehti)


http://www.tammistoknuutila.fi/kauppakamarilehti/Lehtiarkisto/2002/2-02/Kuvat/pienoismalli.jpg

How the tower would be situated. (copyright: Tampereen kauppakamarilehti)


The people of Tampere support the tower and so do the members of the city council and the planning department. Unfortunately, couple complaints, one from the Finnish National Board of Antiquities (an organisation that in their own words "preserves Finland's material cultural heritage"), were filed against it. The complaints were taken to court where they were overruled. Apparently, the National Board of Antiquities complained, taking the case to higher court, where it still awaits the final decision. The whole process has delayed the hotel project by two years, at least.

If the higher court decides that the complaint filed by National Board of Antiquities is valid, the city and the Radisson hotel chain will have to look for elsewhere to build their tower - provided that Radisson still wants to build a high-rise hotel at all! If things go well for us, the city and Radisson, the construction of Tampere's would-be-tallest might begin next year.

Situation as of October 5th: all complaints against the hotel were overruled. It is unclear, however, when / if work on the tower will start and when.


http://www.sci.fi/~olvari/Etusivu.jpg

The lower part will have 17 stories -- 55 meters. Total total floor space is 18 000 square meters.(copyright: unknown)





(c)Pienoismallipaja Nina Pohjanheimo.

http://www.pienoismallipaja.com/kuvat/massamallit/Matkakeskusmalli-020.jpg

http://www.pienoismallipaja.com/kuvat/massamallit/Matkakeskusmalli-068.jpg






RATINA TOWERS, TAMPERE
status: under planning

From Grendy: The City of Tampere has been planning a new commercial/residential area to Ratina, which is considered to be a part of the downtown-area. So there are some purely commercial buldings planned and also some residential buildings. 19.08.2004 a plan was revealed (http://www.tampere.fi/tiedostot/50s...ainne190804.pdf 4.7mb, a PDF image how the area would look like). I didn't even bother to make a thread about it since it had nothing special. 4-8 storey buildings (bah boring!).

Now I took todays newspaper to my hands and there it was on the frontpage: "Ratina's towers too low for politicians" The city's central government voted 9-2 to return the plan to the drawing desk. When it returns, they hope there will be some 14-storey towers in the mix! Basically the city's central goverment hoped for the office buildings to be 14 storeys, they didn't have anything specific to say about the residentials, so the project architect can make a proposal of his own.











SIRIUS RESIDENTIAL, OULU
status: built

A modest 12 story residential was recently built to Oulu by the construction company YIT.


http://www.yit.fi/binary.asp?page=16538&field=Image

(copyright: YIT)















HELSINKI METROPOLITAN AREA

At the turn of the century Helsinki metropolitan area was the second fastest growing urban area in Europe, following Dublin, Ireland. Home to 1.2 million people and more, it's now experiencing its second large population boom, which started in the 1990s. Because there is very little room for development near the downtown Helsinki due to its location, growth is concentrated in the sprawling suburbs.


http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/jgatling/helsinki-JFG/seutu.jpg

Map of the Helsinki metropolitan area.


Three largest cities in the metro region include Helsinki (559.716), Espoo (221 597) and Vantaa (181.890). Together, they essentially form a single entity because the cities are so well interconnected. There is plenty of talk about joining the cities together.

Espoo has no clear city centre, but five different urban centers, each size of a medium-sized Finnish city. Most of the residential buildings in Espoo are detached houses or row-houses. Vantaa, on the other hand, has only one urban center and plenty of suburbs consisting of apartment blocks. The Helsinki-Vantaa airport is also located there.


> http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/jgatling/helsinki-JFG/helsin.jpg

Satellite image that shows part of Helsinki metropolitan area. The town next to the narrow Tuusulanjärvi lake in the north is my old hometown, Kerava (population 30 000).





ESPOONLAHTI RESIDENTIAL TOWER, ESPOO
status: approved / proposed (?)





FORTUM II, ESPOO
status: approved

Keilanmiemi is a business district in Espoo, next to the border with Helsinki. It has emerged a modern headquarter region of large international corporations such as Nokia and KONE.

It all began with a man called Uolevi Raade, who was the chairman of the state-owned energy company Neste Oy in 1950-1978. Under his leadership, Neste became the largest company in Finland. It is said that he specificially wanted to have a prominent headquarters building, which would be unlike anything else in Finland, so they comissioned the architect bureau Castrén-Jauhiainen-Nuuttila to create one in Keilaniemi.

Alas, the City of Espoo was not forthcoming about the idea of 30 storey high-rise, so Neste had to cut the number of floors to 20. The construction of the building began in the winter of 1973 and it was finished over six years later. To this day, the white tower remains as the tallest building in Finland until Cirrus is built. Older folk call it by the nickname Raade's tooth.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/keilaniemi/fortum.jpg

"Raade's tooth", standing 87 meters tall. (copyright: me)


After series of foreign and domestic business acquisitions and mergers, Neste changed its name to Fortum in the 1990's, though the old name still exists in its gas station chain. Nowadays, Fortum is the second largest power company in the Nordic countries and the leading heat producer. It has two oil refineries, a nuclear power plant and a fleet of oil tankers, among other things.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/keilaniemi/fortumelisakone.jpg

Fortum HQ in the background, behind Elisa's groundscraper. KONE Building, the headquarters of the Finnish elevator manufacturer and long-time sponsor of emporis.com, is on the foreground. (copyright: me)


In 2002 it was revealed that Fortum was seeking to erect another tower next to its existing headquarters building. The city of Espoo approved the plans for 16 to 17 story high-rise building, but very little has been heard since. It now seems that the construction of the new tower will begin in 2007 earliest. There are no plans for further high-rises in the area, however.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/projektit/149779.jpg

The new tower, designed by CJN Architects Oy and Stefan Ahlman Oy. (copyright: CJN Architects Oy)


http://www.atl.fi/toimistot/Arkkitehtitoimisto_CJN_Oy/fi_FI/suunnitelmat/_files/11032245930049053/default_FS/atl_fortumcam-03.jpg







KIVENLAHTI TOWER, ESPOO
status: approved

Kivelahti suburb in western Espoo is an atypical Finnish urban area because of one little detail: it has got high-rises. Located in an absolutely wonderful setting by the sea, it is the home to two residential towers, Reimarintorni (66 m, 18 stories) from 1990 and Meritorni (70 m, 22 stories) from 1999.


http://www.philipsdigital.com/jussi/pd_kiv2/kiv_i1.jpg

Meritorni (Ocean Tower), currently the tallest residential in Finland. (copyright: Hotts, www.philipsdigital.com/jussi)


A third residential tower is being planned next to Reimarintorni. It will also have 18 stories, but the design is unknown at the moment.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/projektit/klahti.jpg

Aerial of Kivenlahti with the new tower planted next to Reimarintorni (in the left). This is not the final design. (copyright: unknown)


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/projektit/kivenlahti2.jpg

Close-up of the same picture.






PANORAMA TOWER, ESPOO (formerly known as "Signaali Tower")
status: approved, construction begins next autumn

Leppävaara district in eastern Espoo, located eleven kilometers away from the downtown Helsinki, is currently one of the fastest growing urban areas in Finland. Its population is expected to rise to 60 000 in the next few decades, and within five minutes of travelling already live over 150 000 people. It has excellent traffic connections: railway and the Helsinki Ring Road I. NCC and Skanska have teamed up to develop a large business park called Signaali in the heart of Leppävaara, in the immediate vicinity of the Sello shopping centre.


http://www.signaalibusinesspark.fi/img/alueen_kartta_eng.jpg

Aerial of Signaali business park / Sello shopping centre. Much of this is already built. (copyright: www.signaalibusinesspark.fi)


The most noticeable part of Signaali business park will be the 16 story "Headquarters" tower, aka. Panorama Tower high-rise. Construction is expected to begin this autumn.


http://www.larkaslaine.com/projektit/prj_img/panoramatower_1.jpg

Panorama Tower tower. (copyright: Larkas & Laine)







LEPPÄVAARA RESIDENTIAL TOWER, ESPOO
status: approved

A 20 story residential with a total floor space of 8000m² is expected to rise next to Signaali tower in the near-future. Its apartments will be reserved for senior citizens.





KIELOTORNI, VANTAA
status: under construction

Vantaa is the northern satellite city of Helsinki, a collection of suburbs of various sizes. Its administrative and urban center, Tikkurila, is about ten kilometers to the north of downtown Helsinki. In the spring of 2003, the city council approved the plans to build a 16 story residential in the center of Tikkurila. Maximum height was limited to as far as 90 meters, but the number of floors to 16.

http://www.skanska.fi/asunnot/img/3165/ikonikuva.jpg

With the spire included in the height, Kielotorni would be the second tallest high-rise in Finland after Cirrus. (copyright: Skanska)

The first four floors will contain shops and offices. Price of a 82 m2 apartment on the 16th floor is 379 500 euros.







AIRPORT CITY WEST END, VANTAA
status: approved

http://www.strombergpark.com/airportcity/images/etukuva.jpg

The tallest building will have 14 stories. (copyright: strombergpark.com)

Airport City West End is a cluster of office buildings that are part of the Aviapolis business park near the Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

http://www.strombergpark.com/airportcity/images/ilmakuva.gif

Aerial of the Airport City West End. Short Autotalo tower, Veromies and a new mystery tower can be seen in the north. :banana: (copyright: strombergpark.com)







UNKNOWN ROUND TOWER, VANTAA
status: ???


http://www.strombergpark.com/airportcity/images/ilmakuva.gif
(copyright: strombergpark.com)







LUCIA, HELSINKI
status: under construction

Situated in Vuosaari, one of the easternmost suburbs of Helsinki, Lucia mid-rise will have the honour of being the tallest building in the area - for a short a while. Its apartments are sold only for older citizens.


http://members.lycos.nl/sdes/04.04.09/11ker.jpg

Lucia in July 2004. (copyright: sdes)






CIRRUS, HELSINKI
status: approved, construction starts in October 2004

Long known as the Vuosaari residential high-rise, this building finally got a proper name in the spring of 2004 when the construction company YIT put it to its website under the section "upcoming projects". Cirrus was approved by the city council as early as 1999, but was delayed for several years because of changes in the design and zoning problems.


> http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2002/12/173927.jpg

"L", the original winning design of Cirrus by the Danish architecture company 3xNielsen. (copyright: 3xNielsen)


http://www.artdvision.com/XX/04%20Night%20View.jpg

"Xky Xcraper", Steven Holl's entry for the competition. It received an honourary mention from the jury. (copyright: Steven Holl Architects)


Unlike "L", the new design for the tower was more conservative, featuring a boxier look. Supposedly the developer wanted to have more space for apartments than the narrow old design could hold.


http://members.lycos.nl/sdes/cirrus/Keskusta.jpg

Cirrus and its surroundings. Lucia can bee seen in the upper right corner. Also notice the metro line that runs next to the freeway, coming from under the Columbus shopping center. (copyright: Helsinki City Planning Department)


http://www.yit.fi/binary.asp?guid=5294568E-DFA6-4D6F-842A-D3FEC6F45E41&field=image

Cirrus will have 28 stories and its top reaches 92 meters, making it the tallest high-rise in Finland by five meters. Tower's floor space is 11 000 square meters.(copyright: YIT)






http://www.hel.fi/ksv/projektit/vuosaari/keskusta/pop_ups/images/keskusta_cirrus.jpg


Construction of Cirrus began last October and the first residents will be able to move in in the summer 2006. Sdes who lives in Vuosaari is closely monitoring the process.









KESKI-PASILA PROJECT, HELSINKI
status: in planning stage

Pasila is a large district, about three kilometers to the north of downtown Helsinki. It is divided into three areas, Itä (East), Länsi (West), and Keski (Central). The first two areas were almost fully built in 1970s and 1980s, but Keski-Pasila consists of railroad tracks that serve the freight traffic in and out of Helsinki harbour. Once the new harbour in Vuosaari will be finished later this decade, Keski-Pasila can be used for urban development.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/bole/central3.jpg

Keski-Pasila in the summer of 2004 (copyright: me)


In the winter 2004, the city of Helsinki commisioned two architect companies to produce outline plans for Keski-Pasila. Milano-based Cino Zucchi was instructed to concentrate on developing the office area, while the Finnish Tuomo Siitonen Architects put more effort in the residential part.


Their outline plans can be downloaded in pdf format from the pages of Helsinki city planning department:

> Cino Zucchi's outline plan, technical drawings and renders (70 mb)
http://www.hel.fi/ksv/hela/Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta/Esityslistat/liitteet/041060088.pdf

> Cino Zucchi's outline plan, text + technical drawings and renders (185 mb)
http://www.hel.fi/ksv/hela/Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta/Esityslistat/liitteet/041060087.pdf

> Tuomo Siitonen's outline plan (133 mb)
http://www.hel.fi/ksv/hela/Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta/Esityslistat/liitteet/041060089.pdf



Quick overview of Siitonen's plan
all pictures: copyright (c) Tuomo Siitonen Architects



http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/siitonen/siit_north.jpg

Siitonen's Keski-Pasila from the north. At the southern end is the 25 story landmark tower. 15 story residentials form the western side, lining with the existing Länsi-Pasila.




http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/siitonen/siit_lm.jpg

One of the high points of Siitonen's plan, the one hundred meter tall landmark tower.




http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/siitonen/siit_s.jpg

From south-west.




http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/siitonen/siit_streetview.jpg

A pedestrian street in the residential part of Siitonen's Keski-Pasila.






Quick overview of Cino Zucchi's plan
all pictures: copyright (c) Cino Zucchi


Cino Zucchi took a completely different approach to the subject. They envisioned Pasila as a river (the railroad tracks) that flows through a group of stones (Zucchi's towers).



http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/zucchi/kpetelasta.jpg

Cino Zucchi's Keski-Pasila from the south. The high-rises are from 14 stories to 22 stories tall.



http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/zucchi/kpview.jpg

A street view from the market square. It is supposedly modelled after a real, existing square in an Italian city.



http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/zucchi/kpview4.jpg

Zucchi's business district.




http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/zucchi/kpview3.jpg

Zucchi's residential area.





In Sebtember 2004, the city planning department decided that they intend to follow Zucchi's plan. How much remains to be seen.


(Thread banner by sdes)

Good idea of a threat containing all Finnish highrise projects, this brings some clearness as we've got all in one place :okay:, Cirrus looks nice despite it's a box (in fact I'm not against boxes at all, especially ones with quality cladding). Just if some more renderings would be available post them!

Talking about Keski Pasila rendering looks quite primising but changing some of the designs would be a good idea :)

:)
Yes, we figured Devilution's thread was getting a bit messy after those five pages.

Here is sdes' (yes, he made this model all by himself) unfinished and unofficial model of Cirrus:

http://members.lycos.nl/sdes/04.04.09/cirrus.jpg

Cirrus' side facades will look a bit different than they do in this pic, but based on what we know about the tower, it's pretty damn accurate.


Edit: What's the problem with Keski-Pasila buildings? ;) I think they've done an excellent job, and I firmly believe that these towers will be valued in the future as much as the great skyscrapers of the 30's like the Empire States Building and Chrysler Building.

Wow, so many towers! Pritty sad that most of them are 15-16 floors, but still :) And good news about these Radisson SAS and Cyrrus towers :okay:

Ober, great list! Just one sad correction... the Espoonlahti residential is supposed to be only 13 floors. I just read it from the city´s webpages... Bummer.

Nice list, good to see them all in one place :)

----

Off-topic; It's Helsinki-week in Oslo right now, with a large sauna on one of the most central squares, Helsinki films, fashionshow etc. :) http://oslopuls.no/cityguides/nav/news.jhtml?context=culture&id=774563

Thanks for the comprehensive overview of the Finnish projects, Ober! :okay: Though I don't find the Cirrus tower visually stunning, I still think it will be a nice addition to the Helsinki metro area!

This is quality thread, I was considering to do the same for Riga (no highrises above 15 floors outside Riga planned yet in Latvia)... but no time.
Projects are rather modest, although Cirrus would be something visible in any European country. And that placeword - Keski-Pasila - that one i have learned well.
I somehow tend to think that Finland will look for a while what the other world does and then make something, what nobody else has ;)

Thanks Ober!
Finally we have all information gathered in one place.:)

Many towers but not in the one cluster, that's shame. The skyline would be awesome.

I haven't heard anything about the Falcon Business Park before, looks nice!

Quite many things going on in Finland. Keep it up! :okay:

Keski-Pasila Project - :lol:

great thread! i hope more and more highrises will be proposed and approved for Finland!

Here are a few old renderings of the Radisson SAS hotel to be built here in Tampere. Of course they're not the final renderings and they don't have any details visible but these give some idea how it will look when it's finished (hopefully).



http://www.sci.fi/~olvari/Etusivu.jpg

http://www.sci.fi/~olvari/hotelli2.jpg



So as you can see it will actually have two parts, the taller part being 24 storeys (76m) and the other one 17 floors(55m) and will have a total floor space of 18000 m^2. (yeah why not combine them to a one 41 storey building? :) )

Don't remember where i took the pictures but (c)theirowners ;)

Thanks grendy.
It looks nice and tall! Somehow the shape reminds me of Itämerentori high-rise in Helsinki. :)

Keski Pasila looks great! :D

The high-rises looks nice but I don't like the fact that most of them are of a rectangular shape (boxes). Cirrus tower looks nice. Great rendering sdes :okay:.

Thanks for the feedback and your wishes, guys. Really appreciated. :)


@ Mantaz

Not yet, but we'll be informing you guys, no worries.



@ NorthStar77

Thanks for the link. :) I can understand little bit of written Norwegian with my high-school Swedish.



@ DenverDane

It will be definetely a nice addition. It will be the landmark of Helsinki's easternmost suburb, Vuosaari. Almost next to it is Helsinki's currently (but not the tallest in the metro area) tallest high-rise, Maamerkki.



@ Gatis

I've enjoyed your Latvian projects thread tremendously so far. ;)



@ AtlanticaC5

Yeah, there are actually quite many high-rise projects currently going on. Sadly only few of them are above the average (IMO).



@ Jarmo

Aitäh! :)



@ Edd

Yup, especially that Lucia building is horrible, simply speaking. It's not even commie block v. 2.0, more like 1.3.



@ suomalaiset ;)

A huge kiitos for the info, it's been added to the first post.

:)
Here is sdes' (yes, he made this model all by himself) unfinished and unofficial model of Cirrus:

http://members.lycos.nl/sdes/04.04.09/cirrus.jpg

Cirrus' side facades will look a bit different than they do in this pic, but based on what we know about the tower, it's pretty damn accurate.

Will the side facades look something like this?
http://members.lycos.nl/sdes/cirrus/Cirrus.jpg

Yes, it's now looking pretty close to what it will look like.

Here´s a totally forgotten little project. A new 14 storey office mid-rise was completed in the city of Kuopio last month. The building is called Microteknia 3 (being part of Microteknia business park complex) and here´s some pics of it.
http://www.teknia.fi/news/upload/j-kaakko-nauha-f1.jpg
http://www.teknia.fi/upload/microteknia1_2_3_syyskuu.jpg
I couldn´t find any better pics, but I´ll add them later if I find ´em. The facade is mostly blue toned glass and the design is the usual boxy type.
Not a very special project but hey, each tower is some welcome variation in our flat cities :)

@Devi - can't see the pictures.... ):

Here are the links to those pics if they´re not working properly from the thread.
http://www.teknia.fi/news/upload/j-kaakko-nauha-f1.jpg
http://www.teknia.fi/upload/microteknia1_2_3_syyskuu.jpg

I command thee, rise from the dead!
*casts resurrect thread spell*

Very cool , Devilution! I had no idea that tower existed. I guess its height makes it the tallest building in Kuopio, maybe in eastern Finland, too? Some high-rises in Kouvula might come close, though.

I also heard about a 16 storey tower they might build in Turku this year!

For more info concerning the new Biotorni in Turku:

http://www.turku.fi/ah/ykltk/2003/1007032x/860689.htm (in Finnish)
http://www.bioturku.fi/index.asp?viewID=1 (in Finnish and English)


http://www.bioturku.fi/upload/pictures/lo_res/bio3.jpg


Looks like a very nice addition to Turku's skyline! Really nice to see something happening in Finland's former capital city, right now the tallest high-rise, Airiston Tähti, is only 58 meters tall.

I plan to make a weekend visit to Turku in the summer. I've only been there two times in my life, once when I was a kid and when I was 15. Look for a Turku thread in the near-future, possibly in June or July. :D

Thanks Ober!
Biotorni, that sounds nice :D

EDIT
Here are the renderings:
http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/BIO_TORNI.jpg
http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/BIO_TORNI_Yo.jpg

Damn! You're fast! :D

Finland is, at least by our scale, booming.

http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/Airistontahti13_valok.jpg

Airistontähti, built in 2001.


When I heard the name "Biotorni", I started thinking of the movie "Mission: Impossible 2", where there is a biotech company whose headquarters are located in a downtown Sidney skyscraper. :)

Thanks. :)
Even if its just 16 storeys, it looks pretty tall.

yay, nice! (:

I kinda like the look of Biotorni. Hope they keep the dark colour and the facade as it is in the render!


Concerning Tampere's Radisson hotel project:
http://www.polemiikki.net/palvelut/keskustelu?id=14658&gid=102&action=view

Old, but very interesting and informative debate from 2003.


Edit:

My favourite Finnish high-rise projects (K-Pasila buildings excluded)

1. Cirrus Tower
2. Radisson SAS, Tampere
3. Fortum tower & Biotorni



Edit 2:

Biotorni was added to the list on the first page. :)

Ober, the link you gave is very good. There are many interesting threads.

My favorite Finnish high-rise projects:

1. Cirrus (of course) ;)
2. Biotorni
3. Signaali Tower or Fortum II

The new rendering of the Cirrus and area around it:
http://members.lycos.nl/sdes/cirrus/Keskusta.jpg

Cirrus on the left, the Lucia mid-rise on the right corner

Sharp eye, sdes. :)
New Cirrus pic added to the list. I wish they'd stop changing the designs so often (Cirrus and Signaali)

*raises eyebrows, Spock-like*
Wonder where Devilution has disappeared to?

I have wondered that too. I hope he's ok.

EDIT

News about the Kielotorni: the construction will begin in August or September 2004, almost the same month as the construction of Cirrus. Can't wait :)

Heh not to worry mates! I´m just so friggin´ busy at work and at home (I´m moving to a new, bigger apartment in the same block) currently that I haven´t had any time to write here...
Hopefully things settle down a bit in the following month so I can be more active here too. Thanks for your concern though! :)

Glad to hear you're fine, devi.

Today's Helsingin Sanomat confirmed Cirrus' height: it will be (only) 92 meters tall.

The height of the "L" design by 3xNielsen was over 100meters, and then the height of this new design 98meters. And now it's just 92m, but still the highest in Finland. :)

True. :)

Photo of Microteknia office complex in Kuopio, which devi mentioned:

http://www.teknia.fi/upload/teknologiakeskus04_nettisiv1.gif

If IMG tags don't work, here's the URL:
http://www.teknia.fi/upload/teknologiakeskus04_nettisiv1.gif

Just a minor note on the Fortum II project. A representative for the energy company stated in a local Espoo Newspaper that they have now finally decided to build the tower, but not in the next couple of years, so construction won´t start before 2007 for sure. I don´t know why the delay but at least it´s good news that this project is now confirmed to be realized.

Damn...things sure are quiet in the construction business during the summertime don´t you think? :sleepy:

Thanks Devi!
Good to hear that they've decided to built the tower. :)
But not before 2007, we just have to wait :(

Any news about the Signaali or that residential tower?

Damn...things sure are quiet in the construction business during the summertime don´t you think?

Sadly yes

No I haven´t heard any news regarding those two lately. Construction of Signaali tower is supposed to begin in either august or september, depending on the progress in the Sello shopping complex construction site as it is directly next to it. So far Sello is ahead of schedule, so I´d say it´s safe to assume that Signaali will start to rise as planned.

I drive past the site everyday, so I´ll try to keep peeking in through the fences and walls surrounding the area :)

Okay :)

Since the thread was stickified (again, thanks!), I think it deserves to look better. As I say in the first post, I'm improving the list. Once everything is done, I'll update the entire first post and make another new one to let everyone know.

It looks already very good and clear. :)
Have you received PM's that I sent to you about the meetup?

But the version 2 beta looks even better, thanks Ober for updating the information. :)

EDIT: Updatet the Lucia picture.

stickified.
stickified stickified.
stick- stick- stick stickified. Try to pronounce this world quickly 20 times.
:)

I think it should be just stick up/stuck up and etc. :)

I think the list is nice and informative aswell, keep up the good work Toni :okay:

Thanks for adding that banner :)
It looks better in Opera, in IE it looks strange :D

Oh yes, IE doesn't support the .png format very well. Can you convert it to gif? The laptop I'm using for internet access doesn't have any image editors . . . except Paint

http://img50.photobucket.com/albums/v152/SdeS0/efhrp.gif
This looks better in IE

The new list (still in beta stage, but good enough to be put here!)


Latest news, July 26th

The thread has now been finally completely updated. I hope you like the new look - send comments, if you have any! I'll be still fixing few things (the last entry for Keski-Pasila was rather rushed)



http://img50.photobucket.com/albums/v152/SdeS0/efhrp.gif
version 2.0 (beta - work in process)

I wish to express my thanks to every Finnish forumer who has contributed to this thread so far. Without you guys it would have been impossible to include all these projects, because I wouldn't know about them. I will continue updating this thread as we learn more. The future looks brighter than ever for Finnish high-rise enthusiasts, which is a good thing because we've got a lot of catching up to do!








BIOTORNI, TURKU
status: approved

Turku (population 170 000 inhabitants, about 400 000 in the region) is Finland's oldest city and the former capital. Located in southwestern Finland, it is a very vibrant and interesting city.


http://www.turkusciencepark.com/TSP/www_fi.nsf/park_kartta.jpg

Map that shows the entire Turku Science Park area. The city center is located in the west, starting from the Turku Cathedral (see the map). (COPYRIGHT: Turku Science Park)


Turku Science Park ( www.turkusciencepark.fi ) is the most important concentration of high-technology companies in the region. Situated in the vicinity of three universities and two polytechnics, its location is extremely ideal for business. Helsinki is less than two hours away and can be reached via a high-speed train or the Turku highway, the most modern highway in Finland.

Bioengineering and life sciences are one of the fastest growing fields of business in the world and in the Turku Science Park. Although half of Finnish bioengineering companies are already located in Turku, the growth is expected to continue. Granted, bio companies aren't doing that well right now, but that is common for all new areas of business (everyone remember the dotcom boom and how only the brightest, most capable companies survived?).

One of the most interesting buildings that they intend to build to Turku Science Park will be Biotorni (torni = tower).


http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/BIO_TORNI.jpg

Biotorni (copyright: Schauman Arkkitehdit)


Biotorni will contain research laboratories, offices and temporary accomondation areas for visiting researchers. Standing 16 stories tall, it will be the tallest building in Turku once completed. At the moment the construction date is unclear, but construction is expected to start once the market situation becomes better.


http://www.bioturku.fi/upload/pictures/lo_res/bio3.jpg

Biotorni (this is the old design) and its surroundings. (copyright: BioTurku / Turku Science Park)







15 STORY RESIDENTIAL TOWER, JYVÄSKYLÄ
status: approved

The city of Jyväskylä in central Finland is the 9th largest city in the country with a population of 76 000 inhabitants. One of its growing areas is the Lutakko district, located right next to the downtown.

By the lake is a row of several 10+ story residentials and little closer to the city centre is the 15 story Innova high-rise, which is currently the tallest building in Jyväskylä.


http://www.lutakko.com/innova.jpg

Innova office high-rise (copyright lutakko.com)


Lutakko is considered a succesful modern urban area and it has brought new life to the city.



http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/tiedotus/lehti/pict/kaava_lutakko_brv5u1.jpg

The new residential. (copyright: Jyväskylä lehti)


By the bridge leading to city will rise a 15 story residential high-rise, designed by Tuomo Siitonen. Details are unclear, but the city seems to have approved the project.










POSSIBLE HOTEL ILVES ENLARGEMENT, TAMPERE
status: not certain

With population of 201 000 (metro population approximately 350 000) the city of Tampere is the largest inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a special place in my heart, for I lived there three great years of my life as a kid. Hotel Ilves, the best-known building in Tampere, is also responsible for starting my high-rise interest. This 68 meter tall hotel, located in the heart of the downtown, has a shopping mall next to (a bit like Europa Mall in NCC). It was built in 1986.

Grendy reported that Sokos, the hotel chain to which Ilves belongs to, intends to enlarge Ilves' capacity by either building an additional low-rise building near the hotel, or by extending the height of the current building by four or five floors.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/ilves.jpg

Hotel Ilves in the summer of 2003 (copyright: me)





FENIX SIRIUS, TAMPERE
status: approved

In the 1980's the city of Tampere was determined to give the city a new look and there were real plans to build three or four 40 story skyscrapers to Tampella area, northern part of the city centre. Alas, the economic depression that followed in the early 90's killed those plans. Right now the plans regarding the area are slightly less amazing: mid-rises and one 15 story office high-rise, called Fenix Sirius. It will be 60 meters tall.


http://www.tpu.fi/~t1karola/skyhigh/fenix.jpg

Construction of Fenix Sirius should start this year.





RADISSON SAS, TAMPERE
status: approved, but pending permission from the court

In 2001 the city of Tampere approved the plans to build a 24 story high-rise hotel to downtown. 76 meter tall building would rise next to old, abandoned train halls from early 20th century. According to the deal made with Radisson, the halls would be fully renovated.


http://www.tammistoknuutila.fi/kauppakamarilehti/Lehtiarkisto/2002/2-02/Kuvat/tallit.jpg

The area today. (copyright: Tampereen kauppakamarilehti)


http://www.tammistoknuutila.fi/kauppakamarilehti/Lehtiarkisto/2002/2-02/Kuvat/pienoismalli.jpg

How the tower would be situated. (copyright: Tampereen kauppakamarilehti)


The people of Tampere support the tower and so do the members of the city council and the planning department. Unfortunately, couple complaints, one from the Finnish National Board of Antiquities (an organisation that in their own words "preserves Finland's material cultural heritage"), were filed against it. The complaints were taken to court where they were overruled. Apparently, the National Board of Antiquities complained, taking the case to higher court, where it still awaits the final decision. The whole process has delayed the hotel project by two years, at least.

If the higher court decides that the complaint filed by National Board of Antiquities is valid, the city and the Radisson hotel chain will have to look for elsewhere to build their tower - provided that Radisson still wants to build a high-rise hotel at all! If things go well for us, the city and Radisson, the construction of Tampere's would-be-tallest might begin next year.


http://www.sci.fi/~olvari/Etusivu.jpg

The lower part will have 17 stories -- 55 meters. Total total floor space is 18 000 square meters.(copyright: unknown)


















SIRIUS RESIDENTIAL, OULU
status: approved / under construction (?)

A modest 12 story residential that is being built to Oulu by the construction company YIT.


http://www.yit.fi/binary.asp?page=16538&field=Image

(copyright: YIT)















HELSINKI METROPOLITAN AREA

At the turn of the century Helsinki metropolitan area was the second fastest growing urban area in Europe, following Dublin, Ireland. Home to 1.2 million people and more, it's now experiencing its second large population boom, which started in the 1990s. Because there is very little room for development near the downtown Helsinki due to its location, growth is concentrated in the sprawling suburbs.


http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/jgatling/helsinki-JFG/seutu.jpg

Map of the Helsinki metropolitan area.


Three largest cities in the metro region include Helsinki (559.716), Espoo (221 597) and Vantaa (181.890). Together, they essentially form a single entity because the cities are so well interconnected. There is plenty of talk about joining the cities together.

Espoo has no clear city centre, but five different urban centers, each size of a medium-sized Finnish city. Most of the residential buildings in Espoo are detached houses or row-houses. Vantaa, on the other hand, has only one urban center and plenty of suburbs consisting of apartment blocks. The Helsinki-Vantaa airport is also located there.


> http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/jgatling/helsinki-JFG/helsin.jpg

Satellite image that shows part of Helsinki metropolitan area. The town next to the narrow Tuusulanjärvi lake in the north is my old hometown, Kerava (population 30 000).





ESPOONLAHTI RESIDENTIAL TOWER, ESPOO
status: approved / proposed (?)





FORTUM II, ESPOO
status: approved

Keilanmiemi is a business district in Espoo, next to the border with Helsinki. It has emerged a modern headquarter region of large international corporations such as Nokia and KONE.

It all began with a man called Uolevi Raade, who was the chairman of the state-owned energy company Neste Oy in 1950-1978. Under his leadership, Neste became the largest company in Finland. It is said that he specificially wanted to have a prominent headquarters building, which would be unlike anything else in Finland, so they comissioned the architect bureau Castrén-Jauhiainen-Nuuttila to create one in Keilaniemi.

Alas, the City of Espoo was not forthcoming about the idea of 30 storey high-rise, so Neste had to cut the number of floors to 20. The construction of the building began in the winter of 1973 and it was finished over six years later. To this day, the white tower remains as the tallest building in Finland until Cirrus is built. Older folk call it by the nickname Raade's tooth.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/keilaniemi/fortum.jpg

"Raade's tooth", standing 87 meters tall. (copyright: me)


After series of foreign and domestic business acquisitions and mergers, Neste changed its name to Fortum in the 1990's, though the old name still exists in its gas station chain. Nowadays, Fortum is the second largest power company in the Nordic countries and the leading heat producer. It has two oil refineries, a nuclear power plant and a fleet of oil tankers, among other things.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/keilaniemi/fortumelisakone.jpg

Fortum HQ in the background, behind Elisa's groundscraper. KONE Building, the headquarters of the Finnish elevator manufacturer and long-time sponsor of emporis.com, is on the foreground. (copyright: me)


In 2002 it was revealed that Fortum was seeking to erect another tower next to its existing headquarters building. The city of Espoo approved the plans for 16 to 17 story high-rise building, but very little has been heard since. It now seems that the construction of the new tower will begin in 2007 earliest. There are no plans for further high-rises in the area, however.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/projektit/149779.jpg

The new tower, designed by CJN Architects Oy and Stefan Ahlman Oy. (copyright: CJN Architects Oy)








KIVENLAHTI TOWER, ESPOO
status: approved

Kivelahti suburb in western Espoo is an atypical Finnish urban area because of one little detail: it has got high-rises. Located in an absolutely wonderful setting by the sea, it is the home to two residential towers, Reimarintorni (66 m, 18 stories) from 1990 and Meritorni (70 m, 22 stories) from 1999.


http://www.philipsdigital.com/jussi/pd_kiv2/kiv_i1.jpg

Meritorni (Ocean Tower), currently the tallest residential in Finland. (copyright: Hotts, www.philipsdigital.com/jussi)


A third residential tower is being planned next to Reimarintorni. It will also have 18 stories, but the design is unknown at the moment.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/projektit/klahti.jpg

Aerial of Kivenlahti with the new tower planted next to Reimarintorni (in the left). This is not the final design. (copyright: unknown)


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/projektit/kivenlahti2.jpg

Close-up of the same picture.






SIGNAALI TOWER, ESPOO
status: approved, construction begins next autumn

Leppävaara district in eastern Espoo, located eleven kilometers away from the downtown Helsinki, is currently one of the fastest growing urban areas in Finland. Its population is expected to rise to 60 000 in the next few decades, and within five minutes of travelling already live over 150 000 people. It has excellent traffic connections: railway and the Helsinki Ring Road I. NCC and Skanska have teamed up to develop a large business park called Signaali in the heart of Leppävaara, in the immediate vicinity of the Sello shopping centre.


http://www.signaalibusinesspark.fi/img/alueen_kartta_eng.jpg

Aerial of Signaali business park / Sello shopping centre. Much of this is already built. (copyright: www.signaalibusinesspark.fi)


The most noticeable part of Signaali business park will be the 16 story "Headquarters" tower, aka. Signaali high-rise. Construction is expected to begin this autumn.



http://english.ncc.fi/zimg/signaaliheadq.jpg

Signaali tower. (copyright: www.ncc.fi)







LEPPÄVAARA RESIDENTIAL TOWER, ESPOO
status: approved

A 20 story residential with a total floor space of 8000m² is expected to rise next to Signaali tower in the near-future. Its apartments will be reserved for senior citizens.





KIELOTORNI, VANTAA
status: approved, waiting for construction to begin

Vantaa is the northern satellite city of Helsinki, a collection of suburbs of various sizes. Its administrative and urban center, Tikkurila, is about ten kilometers to the north of downtown Helsinki. In the spring of 2003, the city council approved the plans to build a 16 story residential in the center of Tikkurila. Maximum height was limited to as far as 90 meters, but the number of floors to 16.

http://www.skanska.fi/asunnot/img/3165/ikonikuva.jpg

With the spire included in the height, Kielotorni would be the second tallest high-rise in Finland after Cirrus. (copyright: Skanska)

The first four floors will contain shops and offices. Price of a 82 m2 apartment on the 16th floor is 379 500 euros.





TOWER IN VEROMIES DISTRICT, VANTAA
status: approved

Veromies district is in the vicinity of the Helsinki-Vantaa international airport. Here's another largely unknown high-rise project of which we have very little information about.


http://www.sukkula.net/ssc/Veromies2.jpg

The office tower will have 16 stories. (copyright: unknown)






LUCIA, HELSINKI
status: under construction

Situated in Vuosaari, one of the easternmost suburbs of Helsinki, Lucia mid-rise will have the honour of being the tallest building in the area - for a short a while. Its apartments are sold only for older citizens.


http://members.lycos.nl/sdes/04.04.09/11ker.jpg

Lucia in July 2004. (copyright: sdes)






CIRRUS, HELSINKI
status: approved, construction starts in October 2004

Long known as the Vuosaari residential high-rise, this building finally got a proper name in the spring of 2004 when the construction company YIT put it to its website under the section "upcoming projects". Cirrus was approved by the city council as early as 1999, but was delayed for several years because of changes in the design and zoning problems.


> http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2002/12/173927.jpg

"L", the original winning design of Cirrus by the Danish architecture company 3xNielsen. (copyright: 3xNielsen)


http://www.artdvision.com/XX/04%20Night%20View.jpg

"Xky Xcraper", Steven Holl's entry for the competition. It received an honourary mention from the jury. (copyright: Steven Holl Architects)


Unlike "L", the new design for the tower was more conservative, featuring a boxier look. Supposedly the developer wanted to have more space for apartments than the narrow old design could hold.


http://members.lycos.nl/sdes/cirrus/Keskusta.jpg

Cirrus and its surroundings. Lucia can bee seen in the upper right corner. Also notice the metro line that runs next to the freeway, coming from under the Columbus shopping center. (copyright: Helsinki City Planning Department)


http://www.yit.fi/binary.asp?guid=5294568E-DFA6-4D6F-842A-D3FEC6F45E41&field=image

Cirrus will have 28 stories and its top reaches 92 meters, making it the tallest high-rise in Finland by five meters. Tower's floor space is 11 000 square meters.(copyright: YIT)


Construction of Cirrus will finally begin next October and the first residents will be able to move in in the summer 2006. Sdes who lives in Vuosaari shall be closely monitoring the process.









KESKI-PASILA PROJECT, HELSINKI
status: in planning stage

Pasila is a large district, about three kilometers to the north of downtown Helsinki. It is divided into three areas, Itä (East), Länsi (West), and Keski (Central). The first two areas were almost fully built in 1970s and 1980s, but Keski-Pasila consists of railroad tracks that serve the freight traffic in and out of Helsinki harbour. Once the new harbour in Vuosaari will be finished later this decade, Keski-Pasila can be used for urban development.


http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/bole/central3.jpg

Keski-Pasila in the summer of 2004 (copyright: me)


In the winter 2004, the city of Helsinki commisioned two architect companies to produce outline plans for Keski-Pasila. Milano-based Cino Zucchi was instructed to concentrate on developing the office area, while the Finnish Tuomo Siitonen Architects put more effort in the residential part.


Their outline plans can be downloaded in pdf format from the pages of Helsinki city planning department:

> Cino Zucchi's outline plan, technical drawings and renders (70 mb)
http://www.hel.fi/ksv/hela/Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta/Esityslistat/liitteet/041060088.pdf

> Cino Zucchi's outline plan, text + technical drawings and renders (185 mb)
http://www.hel.fi/ksv/hela/Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta/Esityslistat/liitteet/041060087.pdf

> Tuomo Siitonen's outline plan (133 mb)
http://www.hel.fi/ksv/hela/Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta/Esityslistat/liitteet/041060089.pdf



Quick overview of Siitonen's plan
all pictures: copyright (c) Tuomo Siitonen Architects



http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/siitonen/siit_north.jpg

Siitonen's Keski-Pasila from the north. At the southern end is the 25 story landmark tower. 15 story residentials form the western side, lining with the existing Länsi-Pasila.




http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/siitonen/siit_lm.jpg

One of the high points of Siitonen's plan, the one hundred meter tall landmark tower.




http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/siitonen/siit_s.jpg

From south-west.




http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/siitonen/siit_streetview.jpg

A pedestrian street in the residential part of Siitonen's Keski-Pasila.






Quick overview of Cino Zucchi's plan
all pictures: copyright (c) Cino Zucchi


Cino Zucchi took a completely different approach to the subject. They envisioned Pasila as a river (the railroad tracks) that flows through a group of stones (Zucchi's towers).



http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/zucchi/kpetelasta.jpg

Cino Zucchi's Keski-Pasila from the south. The high-rises are from 14 stories to 22 stories tall.



http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/zucchi/kpview.jpg

A street view from the market square. It is supposedly modelled after a real, existing square in an Italian city.



http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/zucchi/kpview4.jpg

Zucchi's business district.




http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/zucchi/kpview3.jpg

Zucchi's residential area.





It remains to be seen whose plan the city of Helsinki decides to follow. It is possible that they will incorporate elements from both of them to the final plan, probably so that the office district will look like Zucchi's and the residential area in the north like Siitonen's. Total floor space of the project is approximately 220 000m².




(Thread banner by sdes)

Wow Ober, this thread looks cooler than ever. Thanks! :)

With the spire included in the height, Kielotorni would be the second tallest high-rise in Finland after Cirrus. (copyright: Skanska)

Let's hope so, then we would have two towers over 90meters

Construction of Cirrus will finally begin next October and the first residents will be able to move in in the summer 2006. Sdes who lives in Vuosaari shall be closely monitoring the process.

I will do that :)

EDIT:
Better picture of the Signaali tower
http://www.lansivayla.fi/uutiset/6389/Image00067900/d4fc107feee69d0237a3e3dce0b5b093.jpg

Toni, is this the pic of Kielotorni that you told me about?
btw. according to emporis Kielotorni is Under construction :banana:
http://www.huoneistokeskus.fi/uudistuotanto/images/tn/tnE460_index_1069228778.jpg

Sure is. :) What do you others think about the building? As far as residentials go, i think it's pretty shaggy.

During our evening MSN chat, sdes spotted a 12 story (?) tower they intend to build to the business park near the Vuosaari harbour. Details are unclear at the moment.

Vuosaari harbour:
http://www.vuosaarensatama.fi/img/pic/index.jpg

Bigger version: http://www.vuosaarensatama.fi/img/en/kuvapankki/2satamavalot_ilma_i.jpg


Map of the area
http://www.vuosaarensatama.fi/img/en/kuvapankki/12Satama_i.jpg


As seen from the mainland:
http://www.vuosaarensatama.fi/img/en/kuvapankki/18maalta.jpg

IMHO that Kielotorni is not very imaginative...it´s just a tad taller version of a modern finnish residential building. I hate the fact that everything is so boxy these days...whatever happened to smooth curved designs? Or decorative elements? Now, don´t get me wrong I don´t - you know - dislike it or think it´s ugly but it could have been so much nicer with a little more effort...

BTW: Checked out the spot that´s reserved for signaali tower but no progress yet. The spot still serves as a parking space for construction supplies and vehicles...

IMHO that Kielotorni is not very imaginative...it´s just a tad taller version of a modern finnish residential building. I hate the fact that everything is so boxy these days...whatever happened to smooth curved designs? Or decorative elements? Now, don´t get me wrong I don´t - you know - dislike it or think it´s ugly but it could have been so much nicer with a little more effort...

BTW: Checked out the spot that´s reserved for signaali tower but no progress yet. The spot still serves as a parking space for construction supplies and vehicles...

Actually I think that boxy towers fit(?) quite good to finnish cities.
Maybe because I have only seen boxy towers in Finland.
But don't get me wrong, i'm not against curvy buildings, not at all. :)

Sad to hear that construction of Signaali hasn't started yet, we'll just have to wait. :)

EDIT: The planned mid-rise building in Vuosaari harbour area:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/cloudsketchers/Projects/Harbourtower.jpg

*does the happy dance*

Found this *huge* old drawing from the website of the city of Espoo. It apparently depicts Kivenlahti and how they originally planned the area to look like. Too bad Meritorni didn't end up looking like their originally planned it!

http://www.espoo.fi/binary.asp?path=36860&field=FileAttachment

This is a must see!

OMG! That looks awesome! I specially like the Meritorni, it looks so glassy.
Reimarintorni looks almost same :)

Found this drawing of the approved? Autotalo in Veromies, Vantaa (almost next to the another proposed tower):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/cloudsketchers/Projects/Autotalo/autotalo.gif

Okay, I'll try adding them both to the main list later week.

WTF? Have you guys seen this? http://www.strombergpark.com/airportcity/default.htm
Looks pretty stunning! :rock:
http://www.strombergpark.com/airportcity/images/etukuva.jpg

edit: It appears to be a completely new project. In that "ilmakuva" page you can see that Veromies tower and also that Autotalo in the upper right corner.
According to the website, that taller tower will have 12-14 floors, while there are also a couple of midrises of 8-10 floors. I´ll drink to that ! :cheers:

edit 2 : If these 3 get built then Vantaa would have the best cluster in Finland :) Remember that there´s also that Finnish Aviation HQ tower in the vicinity.

OMG, I almost fell out of my seat.

That's pretty amazing by Finnish standards! I need to give this whole damn thread a big revamp as soon as possible. *bows to Devilution's general direction* Few months ago there was also talk in the radio about creating a fully automated light-rail system that would link the airport, the business park nearby to Tikkurila. That would rock.

Nice to get another high-rise route in Finland. :) The other is Länsiväylä (Keilaniemi and Itämerentori) and now . . . Kehä 3 ring road.

As soon as i'm finished with my study book, I'll go find out more about this project you showed.

By the way, since it seems that no one else except Finns are reading the thread, maybe we should let this one die and continue creating own thread for every new project?

I think you´re right Toni... Or as Metallica said it: Sad but true.
Hmm I was thinking that maybe this thread should be edited clean of many "this looks nice!" -replies and released at the european forum? And then create threads for each project in the s&b forum as their construction advances?

Well, anyway, I´m off to have some more :cheers: so have a nice weekend!

Your suggestion sounds rather good, I'll update the list and post it to general European forum.

Thanks, hyvää viikonloppua sinnekin :D

I'm right trying to waste my time until 4 AM when I have to take the car to Helsinki and pick up my friend and his girlfriend from there back to Kerava... Maybe I'll go for a small nap.

That's looks cool! It seems that Vantaa will have the best high-rise cluster in Finland.

I'm propably going to sleep now, just came back from the Hietaniemi beach. :D

Farewell, thread!


Cino Zucchi's Keski-Pasila high-rises, all in one diagram:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/cloudsketchers/temporary/zucchin.jpg

A small suggestion. you guys should continue posting project news in this thread while creating separate threads about the most important projects. So all forumers will have an ability to find the info they need in this thread with all the stuff and at the same time the important projects will be noticed by the majority who doesn't constantly check this one :)

A mighty fine idea, Jonas. In fact I'll combine it with Devilution's. But first this thread will die (I'll create another one in similar vein as its successor).

Do not worry that others do not read this thread... I personally am in great lack of time, but I try to follow all threads, simply do not answer... feeling bad about it.
Just continue stacking the news, people read them!

Before it dies, let me just give my regrets that I have not responded to this fine thread often enough. And that all in one diagram is neat!

This thread is not going to die :D

Two renderings of the new 10-storey hotel in Ruoholahti. Currently U/C.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/cloudsketchers/Projects/Restel/Restel1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/cloudsketchers/Projects/Restel/Restel2.jpg

I don't reply to this thread, but I read it regulary (it's in my user cp :)), so don't kill it, it's rather interesting :yes:

That hotel looks pretty ok, but not very impressive. Still, it fits quite well to its surroundings. I would, of course, add 10 more floors to it ;)

Good work. Finland is really booming, but unfortunately buildings are quite low comparing with Baltic nations. All buildings are boxy too and design is quite similar. It`s very hard to decide which are the most coolest projects, but my favourites are Biotorni, Fortum 2, Cirrus. I don`t know, design of Zucchi's business district is interesting, but maybe buildings should look more colourful.

mmm, this thread isnt dying! I always read it, i anxiously wait and press refresh constantly to see if anyone has written something new... in this thread, in tallinn thread, in Stockholm thread, in Oslo thread, Specially Riga thread(because Gatis makes such a fine job developing that thread - ofcourse so do u OL and sdes)
Jonas your idea of having separate ideas is also very good:)

Okay! Okay! We ain't going to kill the thread. :D

Updated the main page with Airpot City West End project and changed the name of Signaali Tower. Finland suffers from 70 meter syndrome - few taller buildings would be a welcomed addition. Last evening me and sdes estimated that the 15 story residential towers in Siitonen's proposal are roughly 55 meters tall.

Right about now we should be hearing news concerning Keski-Pasila... So stay tuned.

Hmm.. I inquired about the facade of Radisson SAS Tampere and city planning-architech Mikko Järvi from City of Tampere answered that the renderings released a few years ago were just to illustrate how the building will look in the cityscape. Well, as we all can see, the renderings are quite crappy concerning the image quality so you can't really see any details of the facade. Järvi said, that part of the tower will be kinda white and the other part will be "dark" (in the rendering other part was blue). The main goal is that the tower will be thin (which is good!).

The Supreme Court (or what ever they wanna call themselvesin English) should be reaching a decision in 6 months, which is not anything new. Järvi also said that planning of the tower hasn't been continued further because of these complains so until the court has reached a decision we won't be seeing any new renderings i think.

Bah, can't wait for that decision! It will crush my world or it will be a very happy day in my life :).

Argh...these processes are just soooo slow...
I was hoping they´d get the go-ahead with this hotel soon but thanks to the NIMBYs, this isn´t the case. Damn.

http://www.sci.fi/~olvari/tampere/sirius.jpg

Yeah, well.. this is the location of the 15 storey Fenix Sirius (when ever they're going to build it). It feels like _everything_ takes like 5 years around here... The shape of this office tower is very much like Kone-building, except the facade :)

atleast the construction sign is there!

Hey! Found some new models of Radisson SAS Tampere! :) All images are (c)Pienoismallipaja Nina Pohjanheimo.

http://www.pienoismallipaja.com/kuvat/massamallit/Matkakeskusmalli-020.jpg
View from north-west

http://www.pienoismallipaja.com/kuvat/massamallit/Matkakeskusmalli-024.jpg
Same, a bit lower though :)

http://www.pienoismallipaja.com/kuvat/massamallit/Matkakeskusmalli-026.jpg
From north.

http://www.pienoismallipaja.com/kuvat/massamallit/Matkakeskusmalli-047.jpg
From south-east.

http://www.pienoismallipaja.com/kuvat/massamallit/Matkakeskusmalli-048.jpg
south-west.

http://www.pienoismallipaja.com/kuvat/massamallit/Matkakeskusmalli-050.jpg
From west.

http://www.pienoismallipaja.com/kuvat/massamallit/Matkakeskusmalli-068.jpg
And from south-east. :drool: It will look awesome ;)

*has a heart attack*

Mr Grendy, you have just made my day! :master:

Looks awesome and very tall!!!
Thank you grendy for these great photos!:)

:D.. I have lot's of sparetime in my hands when I'm at work, so just trying to do something usefull here :D.. I really don't even know how I found those, just a happy accident :).

:D.
New Cirrus rendering (the quality sucks:)):

The article mentioned that hundreds of people are interested in Cirrus apartments. Also that the tower will be "ultra safe". I will post the finnish article here later.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/cloudsketchers/Projects/Cirrus/Cirruskuva.jpg

Cool :). New images are always welcome, I hope we'll get soon to those U/C images :D

Here's the link to the scanned article.
http://img48.exs.cx/img48/218/Cirrus.th.jpg (http://img48.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img48&image=Cirrus.jpg)

oloolololol :drool: new hotel looks excepsionally tall!! :D cant wait to see it built and glittering in the sun!

You lucky bastards :D :drool:

OMG!! :omg: .. I just found this article!!
http://www.rakli.fi/locus/khotretornihot.htm

It's in Finnish but it says the Supreme Court has rejected all the complains concerning Radisson SAS Tampere!! The article was posted 7.9.2004 so I'm almost a week late! (This is what happens now that I don't get any daily newspapers to my home :( ). But so far, this day has been quite a rollercoaster for me ;).. I was really pissed off this morning since i'm still a bit hangoverish and tired from weekend, then i found the new models of the hotel and now this! Oh yes and a woman called from "an interesting" company and we arranged a meeting concerning a job interview (I would get more money in that job :) ). Interesting day so far I gotta admit! :nuts:

edit 1: Now that I've had a few minutes to deal with this matter, I'll translate some of the other stuff also in the article. Too bad there's a downside also, there are three hotel enlargement-projects going on in Tampere at the moment. These matters might delay building this tower a bit. (oh crap, but what does "a bit" mean? We've waited long enough, just build the damn thing! :) ) And that quote was said by Pirjo Ojanperä (Radisson SAS countryleader etc).

Great news again grendy! :)

The entrance of the Kielotorni:
http://www.kielotorni.net/data.php/200409/043057200409090842_luonnos.jpg

Here's the rendering that I made, Cirrus from West. The area has changed a lot since this photo was taken:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/SdeS0/renders/Cirrus_ilmakuva.jpg
Original photo copyright 2003 Paulig

Nice Render Sdes!

Sdes: That rendering is awesome, really! :). Look how tiny those "normal" apartment houses are compared to Cirrus :)

Thanks guys! :)

Wow!:cool:
Well done, sdes!
Those skyscrapers will be great additions to your skylines:)

Yesterday was a good day for this thread. :) Maybe we should start another thread for all kinds of other projects (ie ones that aren't high-rises)? I know there's gadzillion ones out there.

Grendy, I hereby nominate you "The Bearer of Good Tampere News" :D

Yesterday was a good day for this thread. :) Maybe we should start another thread for all kinds of other projects (ie ones that aren't high-rises)? I know there's gadzillion ones out there.


Hmm perhaps, but still they should be at least a bit interesting! :) I don't know if one or two 5 storey buildings are interesting enough, well not for me. Criterions should be: 1. It should be MASSIVE :D 2. Perhaps not that massive, but if it's abnormal in any way or it changes the cityscape in some other way.

I don't wanna read about constructing a terraced house in some suburb that's already full of 'em. You know what I mean? ;)


Grendy, I hereby nominate you "The Bearer of Good Tampere News" :D

:lol: Ok so if there are some sad news I'll just be quiet :D. Let's hope I have a lot of good news in the near future, and by the way, when/if construction of Radisson SAS begins, believe me, I'll keep all of you updated with lots of pictures! :cheers1:

Okay a brief update (again) concerning Radisson SAS Tampere and Hotel Ilves enlargements! Including a really screwed up idea :)

So I enquired more information directly from the city of Tampere about building the Radisson SAS hotel-tower. They said that it's all about SOK (or S-group or whatever), who will build the tower. Apparently SOK owns both Sokos (Hotel Ilves) and Radisson SAS here in Finland, so they have two different hotel-projects going on in the city. Of course the Radisson-project was their first goal, but when it got stuck in court for two years they started to plan the enlargement of current hotel Ilves. Now it's legal in all levels to start to build Radisson, but apparently they seem to be still concentrating their increase of hotel capacity to Hotel Ilves. So it would mean Radisson will come after the enlargement of Ilves "some day".

This is basically just a speculation, but based on the few words they have said to public.

And I believe at least all of you Finns remember, there were three different options how to make Ilves's capacity larger:
1. Build more floors to the tower
2. Build a new low-rise building to Hatanpään Valtatie's side
3. Build a new low-rise building to Tammerkoski's side.

The enlargement of current hotel Ilves is a very new idea compared to building Radisson, so they have just ideas! They will have to make a change to the city plan, and it could take some time. The city council can approve the new city plan quite fast, but if someone complains, it will be a court-matter. And it took two years when it was about the city plan of the area they would build Radisson SAS! So here comes the really screwed up idea i got :D :

-If they decide to add floors to Ilves, it will be okay in my standards. Go ahead!
-If they decide to build a low-rise building on either side of the tower, let's complain! :D It will get stuck in the court again and they have no other option but to start building Radisson SAS right away if they wanna compete in the hotel business! :)

PS. I really don't think I'll have to complain about anything, someone else WILL do that....... Now how's that for a great idea?! :nuts:

It feels like I'm posting all the time here but I think a lot is happening at the moment! This a totally new thing!

The City of Tampere has been planning a new commercial/residential area to Ratina, which is considered to be a part of the downtown-area.
http://www.tampere.fi/kuvat/50sX4Vf9v/ratinaetelasta.jpg
At the moment the only public area is Ratina Stadium. Other stuff found from there is the bus-station and some old factory buildings.

So there are some purely commercial buldings planned and also some residential buildings. 19.08.2004 a plan was revealed (http://www.tampere.fi/tiedostot/50sKn6I4p/ratinayshavainne190804.pdf 4.7mb, a PDF image how the area would look like). I didn't even bother to make a thread about it since it had nothing special. 4-8 storey buildings (bah boring!).
Now I took todays newspaper to my hands and there it was on the frontpage: "Ratina's towers too low for politicians"
The city's central government voted 9-2 to return the plan to the drawing desk. When it returns, they hope there will be some 14-storey towers in the mix! Basically the city's central goverment hoped for the office buildings to be 14 storeys, they didn't have anything specific to say about the residentials, so the project architect can make a proposal of his own.

Now I took todays newspaper to my hands and there it was on the frontpage: "Ratina's towers too low for politicians"
The city's central government voted 9-2 to return the plan to the drawing desk. When it returns, they hope there will be some 14-storey towers in the mix! Basically the city's central goverment hoped for the office buildings to be 14 storeys, they didn't have anything specific to say about the residentials, so the project architect can make a proposal of his own.
Sounds very good!

-If they decide to build a low-rise building on either side of the tower, let's complain! It will get stuck in the court again and they have no other option but to start building Radisson SAS right away if they wanna compete in the hotel business!
Maybe we can try that, maybe :D

Grendy, fear not. If we are to make a thread about projects that aren't high-rises, I wouldn't post anything fully ordinary. In fact as for thread's starter project I'm thinking something really, really big. Like something worth of 2.2 billion euros. :)

I'm in a hurry right now, so I'll comment your other stuff later. Thx.

A small crane has appeared next to the Cirrus lot: :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/cloudsketchers/Projects/Cirrus/rak/Cirrusnosturi.jpg

A small crane has appeared next to the Cirrus lot: :)


Wohoo! :D.. Btw, I got some information about Fenix Sirius. Apparently YIT has informed the city of Tampere at the end of 2003 that they will have to wait for an inverstor to be found before they'll start the construction. One "small" problem is that the website for the entire Fenix Tampere -project has just vanished! It was www.fenixtampere.com (if i remember correctly) and it's no more there :(. Don't know if it means the entire project has been called off or are they just having some problems. Scary stuff... I was just imagining a few days ago that Tampere won't look that bad if they build everything that has been in the news: Fenix Sirius, Radisson SAS and 14-storey buildings to Ratina. All are in the downtown area, well not really that close to each other but still they can all be seen in the big picture (including Ilves) and I think it would look quite alright :).

http://www.sci.fi/~olvari/tampere/new/urban3.jpg
Okay I have a feeling this photo need a little explaining :D. So this is the spot where the 24-storey Radisson SAS will rise (some day). I have checked the spot out before without a camera but I thought you might be interested to see how small it actually is! Well, of course the picture doesn't do justice but it gives you some idea at least. So the part in the middle will be the main entrance (from the other side) and there are those two U-shaped buildings (Veturitallit are their names) on both sides. All of those buildings will be fully restored when the construction begins, except the little white wooden shed (I think ;) ) :D. If I understand the city plan (http://www.tampere.fi/ytoteto/aka/nahtavillaolevat/7750/7750.pdf 800k) right, a small part of the 17-storey part of the building will be on top of the parking lot I was standing taking the picture.

OK. Nothing much to see in the pic, but the point is that the area is really small! :)

Nothing that valuable is going to be lost... :) Hope that "one day" will come soon

Thx, grendy. I knew it's location was tight, but not that tight! Your photo really cleared it up.

From the pdf. file hosted at the website of city planning department of Tampere:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/radisson.jpg




I know about disappearance of Fenix Sirius website. However, that sign is there, so maybe there's hope.

Believe me, it was kinda weird to imagine there will be a 76m tall building in just two meters in front of me where i was standing :D.. cool! :drool:

I've done that same thing with Keski-Pasila... :)

Speaking of which, I saw this little gem at the official KSV discussion forum concerning Keski-Pasila

Sitä paitsi maailmanlaajuinen poliittinen ilmapiiri on tätä nykyä erittäin räjähdysherkkä. Oletettavaa on, että kansainvälisen terrorismin uhka ei ole vähenemään päin vaan päin vastoin lisääntymässä. Kuka tietää, milloin meidän Helsinkimme tulisi olemaan itsemurhapommittajien kohteena. Varsinkin kaupunkien keskusta-alueiden superkorkeat rakennukset tuntuvat olevan suosittuja maalitauluja. Kannattaisikohan pohtia tätäkin puolta asiassa?

My reply:

Ehkäpä meidän pitäisi myös pohtia julkisten kulkuvälineiden käytön ja kaupassa käynnin lopettamista, kun pahat muslimiterroristit saattavat näissä paikoissa vaania meitä ihmispoloja. Tai ehkä jos muutetaan kaikki Lappiin, kauaksi pois Helsingistä. Sinne ne ikävät itsemurhapommittajat eivät ehkä eksy, varsinkin kun siellä on niin kylmä.

Anteeksi sarkasmini, mutta tuo on kyllä ehkä lapsellisin korkeita taloja vastaan suunnattu argumentti, minkä olen kuullut. Keski-Pasilan mahdolliset "superkorkeat talot" (Siitosen suunnitelmassa n. 100 metriä, Zucchin noin 90 metriä ja alle) eivät nyt millään ole riskitekijöitä.

Täytyy sanoa, että terroristit ovat kyllä hyvin tavoitteessaan (pelon lietsominen kansan keskuudessa) onnistuneet, jos Suomessakin heitä aletaan tällä tavalla pelätä.

where's this forum? :)

http://www.hel.fi/ksv/keskustelu/index2.htm


And the website of the city planning department of Helsinki http://www.hel.fi/ksv/




"Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunnassa 23.9.2004 esillä Kalasataman osayleiskaavan suunnittelutilanne, Ilmalan alueen asemakaava- ja asemakaavan muutosluonnos, Keski-Pasilan osayleiskaavaluonnos, Hakuninmaan länsiosan asemakaavan muutosehdotus, Malmin kahta tonttia sekä puisto- ja katualueita koskevasta asemakaavan muutosehdotuksesta esitetty muistutus ja annetut lausunnot. Lue lisää lautakunnassa käsiteltävistä asioista tiedotteesta (pdf) tai esityslistalta."

Soon my friends. Soon. :)

Stuff from KSV concerning KP

"Keski-Pasilaa varten on laadittu väestöennuste, jonka pohjalta arvioidaan alueen väestörakennetta ja palvelutarpeita. Ennuste perustuu 80 000 kerrosneliön mitoitukseen. Asuntotuotanto alkaisi vuonna 2010 ja ensimmäiset asukkaat muuttaisivat alueelle vuonna 2011. Tuotanto on ennustetta varten ajoitettu neljälle vuodelle, kullekin 20 000 kerrosneliötä. Väestöennuste on laskettu sillä perusteella, että tuotannosta 20 % olisi sosiaalista asuntotuotantoa.

Ennusteen mukaan Keski-Pasilassa asuu vuonna 2017 maksimissaan 1 927 ihmistä. Väkiluku vähenee hitaasti ja on vuonna 2030 noin 1 800."

Basically, it says that according to projections first residents could move to Keski-Pasila in 2011.


"Yleiskaavan 2002 laatimisen yhteydessä todettiin, että Pasilan sijainti melko etäällä kaupungin rantaviivasta ja keskustan yhtenäiseen mittakaavaan rakennetuista alueista sekä ratapiha-alueen matala korkeusasema mahdollistavat Pasilassa myös korkean rakentamisen ilman kaupungin merelliseen silhuettiin kohdistuvia merkittäviä vaikutuksia. Korkean rakentamisen myötä alue muodostaisi uuden maamerkin, joka saattaisi näkyä myös kaupungin kaukomaisemassa."

In 2002 they realized that it would be ok to build high-rises there without damaging their oh, so precious Helsinki skyline (what skyline?!).



"Tarkasteltaessa maankäyttökaavion lähtökohdaksi valittua viitesuunnitelmaa (Cino Zucchi Architetti), voidaan etäisyyden Veturitieltä asuinrakennusten Veturitien puoleiselle julkisivulle todeta olevan minimissään noin 30 metriä ja keskimäärin noin 50 metriä. YTV:n minisuositusetäisyys asutuksen sijoittamiselle avoimessa tuulettuvassa ympäristössä Veturitien liikennemäärällä on noin 40 metriä."

They chose Zucchi's plan as starting point.


Cost of building infrastructure systems in KP would be 45 million euros.


The city planning society of Helsinki (Helsingin kaupunkisuunnitteluseura - Stadsplaneringssällskapet i Helsingfors) prefers Zucchi's plan.


"Pasila Seura toteaa, että useat asukkaat sekä Länsi- että Itä-Pasilan alueella ovat ilmaisseet kantansa Keski-Pasilan viitesuunnitelmista pitäen arkkitehti Tuomo Siitosen ehdotusta ehdottomasti parempana kuin Cino Zucchin ehdotusta. Pasila Seuran hallitus ehdottaa, että Tuomo Siitosen suunnitelma hyväksyttäisiin Keski-Pasilan rakentamismalliksi."

Pasila society prefers Tuomo Siitonen's proposal. I'm starting not like the people who live in Pasila area. :D



"Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta on 29.4.2004 päättänyt, että maankäyttökaavion lähtökohdaksi tulisi ottaa Cino Zucchi Architettin ehdotus."

City planning board said (as Devilution reported a long time ago) that they prefer Cino Zucchi.



"Pirjo Lehkonen toteaa, että Keski-Pasilan rakentaminen ei edellytä pilvenpiirtäjien rakentamista ja että ne pilaisivat Helsingin profiilia ainakin etelästä katsottaessa."

I don't agree with her.



"Uusista suunnitelmista Zucchin version (Juho) Rysti toteaa huomattavasti mielenkiintoisemmaksi."

Nice, Rysti!




"Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta päättänee hyväksyä 23.9.2004 päivätyn Keski-Pasilan osayleiskaavaluonnoksen laadittavan osayleiskaavaehdotuksen pohjaksi."


IIKS! :D *can't wait*

OMG! They've already got links for the osayleiskaavaluonnos material! *downloading*

Edit: here http://www.hel.fi/ksv/hela/Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta/Esityslistat/042640133.htm#P1604_69634

I quickly browsed through the material -- looks like they're going to follow Cino Zucchi's proposal, at least for now.

We (me, DM, DW, sdes) saw this projected on the wall in that discussion concerning Keski-Pasila


How Keski-Pasila would effect the skyline as seen from southern harbour (Cino Zucchi (above) and Siitonen (below))
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/mitennakyis.jpg

Stuff from KSV concerning KP

"
"Pirjo Lehkonen toteaa, että Keski-Pasilan rakentaminen ei edellytä pilvenpiirtäjien rakentamista ja että ne pilaisivat Helsingin profiilia ainakin etelästä katsottaessa."


I´m just wondering what is the place she is looking at Helsinki skyline from? I mean, these Pasila buildings wouldn´t be visible from streetlevel anywhere near downtown. But do they care about the facts? HEll no... This is just another prime example of sticking to your narrow-minded, anti-everything attitude and trying to prevent anything out of the ordinary happening.

If these kind of ppl would rule the world, we´d be all living in caves and not be able to use fire or the wheel or other inventions as they are not natural! :bash:

...well, a slight exaggeration maybe but you get the point :weirdo:


edit: OL , I just noticed your skyline model pics... Would someone be kind enough to present them to that Pirjo Lehkonen and just maybe pop the question: "What exactly here is ruined by these tiny additions to the roofline?" I doubt she´d give a straight answer though...

The skyline of Zucchis Keski-Pasila looks quite good, but somehow small. :)

Devi, any news of Sig... Panorama tower? :D

The skyline of Zucchis Keski-Pasila looks quite good, but somehow small. :)

Well, their location is over three kilometers away, covered by 20-40 meter tall buildings, some of them located atop an elevated point (Kallio), so I think it's quite good achievement. :) Imagine what it would look like from the bridge that crosses the railway tracks near Töölönlahti.

From an old draft plan that contained few 20 story towers.

http://www.hel.fi/ksv/projektit/pasila/historia/kaupunkirakennemallit/pop_ups/images/kekokaukaa.jpg

Zucchi's plan doesn't contain quite as many high-rises, but I suspect it would look pretty much the same when viewed from the downtown.

Devi, any news of Sig... Panorama tower? :D

Nope... the site is still looking more or less the same. Filled with construction materials and a couple of barracs.

By the way, I visited Leppävaara with my parents few weeks ago. We were driving by on Kehä I and stopped by at Sello. I was really surprised by the size of the open square between Sello and the building which houses the library. It felt like an overkill, because there were so few people there. Are there any plans concerning developing that square, or is there are market place on week days?

By the way, I visited Leppävaara with my parents few weeks ago. We were driving by on Kehä I and stopped by at Sello. I was really surprised by the size of the open square between Sello and the building which houses the library. It felt like an overkill, because there were so few people there. Are there any plans concerning developing that square, or is there are market place on week days?

Well the thing is... during the summertime it is a lot more lively place cause there are those outdoor tables for bars and coffee shops and also there is marketplace activity more or less on a daily basis. At least strawberries, fresh vegetables, ice-cream and such was sold almost every day and it was really nice. But then again when the weather gets colder and rainier -> *zap* the whole place is empty. Also it is a very windy place so ppl tend not to like it when the sun don´t shine.

There´s also some happenings on the square, for example screenings of films and band performances and such. Mostly in the summertime of course.

I don´t think it is a very successful design either. Or maybe it´s just too windy now that the area isn´t finished around it.

The library is pretty gorgeous though... The entrance with its glass wall is impressive but the interior is the real showcase. I really like it. It´s so welcoming and cozy even though lots of glass and steel is used.

Blah...I could go on about these Lepuski buildings forever ;) better stop now and get back to work.

Found this rendering of the Kalasatama area.
http://img78.exs.cx/img78/3782/Ilmakuva.jpg
Hard to say how tall those buildings next to highway will be, but compared to the existing 11-storey Tilastokeskus they look almost the same height.
http://img78.exs.cx/img78/9933/Toimistot.jpg

Those are just premilinary models to illustrate how the area will look like, so don't criticize the buildings for looking so boring and repetitive designs. Vuosaari harbour will make plenty of things possible, this, Jätkänsaari and Keski-Pasila. I hope that Kalasatama will help to further revitalize Kallio / Sörnäinen, a place that in 1970s was called "not fit for human beings". :)

I think Kalastama will have a very urban look, thanks to the Itäväylä highway and metroline that will go through it. I hope they'd add canals there, though.

"I think Kalastama will have a very urban look, thanks to the Itäväylä highway and metroline that will go through it. I hope they'd add canals there, though."

It would look very nice :)
http://img87.exs.cx/img87/4623/Kanava.jpg

@ Devi
Kiitti!


A new tower project has been uncovered. Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about the tower, not even where it is going to be built. All that is known is that it's round-shaped (first in Finland) and has approximately 20 stories.

@Ober:

give us SOMETHING! :D.. where did you hear about this? somethiiiiing! =)

Sdes visited a construction exhibition. I heard the news from him. :)

Okay sdes speak! :)

Could it be the round tower seen in this aerial render of Tuusula motorway / Kehä 3 area:

http://www.strombergpark.com/airportcity/images/ilmakuva.gif

Old render of Biotorni, Turku:

http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/Biolaakso_torni2b.jpg



Miniature model:

http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/Biolaakso_yleissuunnittelu02.JPG





The current design:
http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/BIO_TORNI.jpg
http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/BIO_TORNI2.jpg


As mentioned earlier, the same architect group was responsible for Airiston tähti residential, also in Turku.

http://www.schaumanarch.fi/images/majakkarantaE.jpg

I wonder whether this tower is planned to be for residential or office use? If it were the one illustrated in the Aviapolis/Falcon businesspark overlook, it could probably be an office building. Twenty storeys or so you say? I guess it would be around 80m tall, then. That's a lot by Finnish standards. I'm not convinced about that location, though. A high-rise of even that height in proximity to an airport would be condemned a serious risk of safety in this country. Maybe it's the one that's supposed to be built near the Panorama?

Sorry, I was mixing the airport city-thingy and the Falcon Bpark. Wont' happen again :)

Okay sdes speak! :)
The tower has 18-20 stories and it's propably office building.

@Ober
It looked like the round tower in that picture, but taller.

That's all I know. :(
We'll just have to wait.

--------------------

The weather is so good, that I will propably go out and take some photos of Vuosaari. There's also somekind of architecture exhibition in Aurinkolahti school today, I will propably go there.

@ Moolio

I think you're right about 20 story tower being a safety risk near an airport. Good point. :)

tallinn city is 3 km away from airport... :)

@ch1le: I think you have to remember the general Finnish attitude towards tall buildings; the NIMBY's will use all and any means necessary to sabotage the construction of high-rise buildings here, and an airport in the vicinity will do nicely as an execuse for not building the tower. Fortunately in this case it would seem that the tower wasn't planned there in the first place.

According the Uutislehti 100 the construction licence (?) of Cirrus was canceled yesterday. The Helsinki building committee wasn't sure if 2 elevators were enogh for tower with 140 apartments. They will discuss about the matter after two weeks. :(

Oh great... delays after delays! This is so typical... :bash:

There, there. We've waited the buildings construction to be started for five years, so what's another few weeks going to matter. :sleepy: No honestly, I think the situation with Cirrus reflects very well the way project planning is done in this country. There is no such a thing in Finland as "approved" building; there are only buildings which are built, and ones that lie under uncertainty - approved or not. Approval simply has no meaning, if any given project (should I say tower?) can be cancelled/delayed even if it has been approved multiple times.

The whole process of planning the tower is getting really, really tragicomic. I have lived most of my life in Vuosaari, and for the longest I actually hoped to see it there before I moving away. That was five years ago.

I'm not actually that disappointed, at least the reason they gave was intelligent. I'll rather have this than some low-quality project approved on lousy basis, though this bureaucratic decision-making process can be annoying at best. At least everything should be safe with that tower and materials high-quality ones (building commitee has listed latter as one of their requirements).

Funnily enough I think they mentioned that the current design of Cirrus is somewhat too ordinary and simple. :D

@OL: Of course you are correct. It's just that they've had time to come up with a reasonable number of elevators since 1996.

As for their comment on the buildings looks, I'm not sure I like this. I can only hope that they don't change the design again. :(

Moolio, you have lived in Vuosaari? What part of Vuosaari?
I live in there too! :) :banana:

@sdes: I lived in vanha Vuosaari, at Satamasaarentie and later on at Isonvillasaarentie. My dad still lives at the latter, so I visit there every now and then. How about you? :)

Vanha Vuosaari looks very green compared to the new areas. :)
I live now in Kallahti, but after this month I'm going to move to the Vuosaari "downtown" (don't know if you call it that :D)
Just let me know when you're coming to Vuosaari next time, maybe we could arrange a little meet-up. :yes:

@sded:
It's definitely green, although I wouldn't mind seeing those commieblocks bulldozed down. :D Kallahti, IMO, is one of the nicest suburbs in Finland currently, and in case that they actually get Cirrus built, it'll look downright awesome (not that a number of Cirruses wouldn't look even better :) ). I'll be sure to let you know when I'll be there next time, although it may come to as far as December.

Aurinkolahti looks much better, have you ever visited in there?

"I'll be sure to let you know when I'll be there next time, although it may come to as far as December."
Great, can't wait. :)

Do you recognise this place? It has changed a lot during few years.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/SdeS0/Helsinki/Vuosaari/new/4-VuotaloLucia.jpg

Sure. I have to say I was a bit shocked when I first saw the Eteläinen Ostari taken down, and that senior house built in the spot. Not that the ostari was anything special architecturally, it's just that in a way it was part of my life as kid and now it's gone. :( At least they could have built something a bit nicer there, instead of that monster. Or I don't know, perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit.

edit: Yes, I've been to Aurinkolahti, and in fact that was the place I was referring to when I wrote about Kallahti. :) My mistake.

If my memory doesn't fail me there were plans to build few 14 storey towers to that site (these towers+Cirrus=quite good skyline).
It doens't look that bad in real life. But still, it isn't the most beautiful building in the world. ;)

btw. Do you live in Lutakko or somewhere near it now? My opinion based on the pictures I've seen is, that it looks very nice :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/SdeS0/Helsinki/Vuosaari/new/5-Lucia.jpg
The western facade of that building

Actually I live in the student village of Kortepohja, which is some 2km from Lutakko area. I walked through Lutakko a week or so ago, and I have to say that it looks even better live. From right angle the area looks extraordinarily dense and urban by Finnish standards - especially considering that we talking about a town of only some 80'000 inhabitants. With just a few stories higher buildings the place could be one of the best mini clusters in Finland. Besides, this is not some hideous commieblock condensation like Merihaka. I really hope that they are actually building a 15 and a 16 storey towers there, as OL says. Personally I didn't see anything that would suggest that when I walked there, but then maybe OL has asked some city-planning bigwig about it. All I can say that is that I'll keep my eyes and ears open. :)

Ok, thanks :)
You mean this one?
http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/tiedotus/lehti/pict/siltakatu_havainnekuva_T77Zz6.jpg
Designed by architect Tuomo Siitonen

That rendering is quite small, but the tower looks ok.

That's the one. I really hate to say this, but I'm fairly sure they are not going to build that. :( In the spot where that tower is supposed to be built is a sign that says something like "Mariini valmistuu tähän ...blaablaa... by Tuomo Siitonen". Anyways, the "tower" is just like the rest: 14 floors, and it ain't an office block as the one in the rendering appears to be, so its height must have been notably reduced. :(

Never going to use IE again when making a long post. Lost my finished post due to browser crash. :(

I think that tower project is alive and kicking. Here is the entry for the area on the pages of the city planning department of Jyväskylä: http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/kaavoitus/kaava.php/id/226

Articles and the zoning map have been updated last month.
http://www2.jkl.fi/kaavakartat/04_027.htm > map, the 15 story tower can be seen near the bridge

Alueen sijainti on kaupunkikuvallisesti keskeinen. Maamerkkinä on sillan tyveen sijoittuva 15-kerroksinen torni, joka toimii vastapainona sekä massiiviselle sillalle että Kuokkalan korkeille rakennuksille. Siltakadun varrella on lisäksi kolme kahdeksankerroksista asuinkerrostaloa. Schaumanin puistotien varrella on kuusikerroksisia asuinkerrostaloja. Kolmannen toteutusalueen viimeinen kaksitoistakerroksinen tornitalo rannassa on lähes entisellä paikallaan, mutta tontin rajat ovat muuttuneet. Muut rakennukset ovat kuudesta kahdeksaan kerrokseen.
>> http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/paatos/kh/2004/06091500.0/txt399.htm


And finally >>
http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/tiedotus/lehti/index.php/2004-01/348

How do you like it in Jyväskylä? Anyhow, nice to see you participating the discussion, Moolio. :)

Thanks OL fo the update. :) I'm not sure why they don't show the tower on the big signs (the same as below) they've brought to the area for public display. :dunno:

http://www.lutakko.com/kokokuva.jpg

I hope, by the way, that the image actually shows, because this is my first time. :laugh:

And yeah, I've liked living here very much, thanks for asking. :) The best thing about Jkl is that it is SO dense by Finnish standards. There is a very clear and well defined town center, and even the surrounding suburbs - if you will - are not scattered around like in 99% of Finnish towns and cities. I mean relatively speaking, Jkl is probably as dense as Hki metro would be if it all were built inside Hki citylimits. Of course the reason behind the density (I assume) is the fact that the ground is a bit hilly here, and therefore makes some limitations on the expanding of the town. Still, I think that the city planning department of Helsinki has lot to learn from our local one.

Edit: DAMN THE IMAGE IS BIG! Is there no way of resizing them?
Edit II: I'm just going to put here a hyperlink insted.

Heh, size of that image has surprised me as well when I tried linking it here. Here's a resized version of it, originally posted to the development news thread (which needs an update)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/lutakko2.jpg

Thanks for the description of Jyväskylä :)

Looks very good!
Isn't that Viitatorni on the other side of the city (next to the lake)?

Ober chech your PM's :)

@sdes: I believe it is. The Viitatorni is in that general area, so I can't think of it being anything else.

Kortepohja student village, by the way, is the light grey spot on the left hand side of the presumed Viitatorni. :) My home.

Okay new plans for Ratina area in Tampere. I'm kinda in a hurry but i just HAD to post something! :D.. first of all here are the direct links to some PDF files:

http://www.tampere.fi/tiedostot/51xGoe1cZ/Ratinan_yleissuunnitelma_210904.pdf
this is the city plan or "floor plan" if you wanna call it that. Just a picture so everyone understands it :) (3.9mb)

http://www.tampere.fi/tiedostot/51xGGcPPP/Havainne_210904.pdf
The same thing but in 3-D (still from above, but you can see the actual buildings, not just the areas, 4.4mb)

http://www.tampere.fi/tiedostot/51xGQnvyh/Virtuaalimalli_210904.pdf
Virtual model in 3-D from different angles, not so many details, i had some problems myself figuring out from which direction it was "shot" ;). (0.6mb)

A VERY short thought:
Not the thing I was expecting! City council said they wanted to see some 14 storey office buildings but the (LAME) architect drew ONE 12-storey building (9 meters shorter than Hotel Ilves=54m) and other buildings are basically 5-9 floors :(. Well, it's kinda tall for a 12 floorer but still it's almost nothing! /me not like the project architect Juha Jaakola ;). If the city council says many 14 floorers, shouldn't he do that? :D.. Ah gotta go now, check out the PDF files and share your thoughts here :)

12 storeys and 54 meters, thats quite tall. And it fits good to the existing cityscape :)
I can't understand either that if city council wanted 14 storey towers and architect didn't draw them, silly.
But of course 12 storey is better than 6.

I suppose we've got an anti high-rise architect working in the Tampere city planning department, and this is his protest? :D

So, in case that the Radisson SAS gets built, Tampere will have four towers in the central area, all of which at least 54m. I don't think that's too bad, although a bunch of 14 floorers would have definitely been a lot better. I have to say that I'm growing increasingly sceptical of the whole hotel project, though. I can't see why they just don't start building the damn tower if it is approved, and if this is an issue of complaints from the residents of Tampere, there is no reason to assume that they would not lodge new complaints, once the first ones are rejected. We're living in Finland, folks... :(

@Moolio:

This is the latest that there has been about Radisson in the news/papers (from Tamperelainen-newspaper, in Finnish)
http://www.sci.fi/~olvari/tamperelainen.jpg

Edit:
And about the Ratina project: In todays Tamperelainen there was news about the project and it says the height will be "a bit over 40meters". I don't know what drugs was the writer on since it clearly says in the official papers of the project that the 12 floorer would be 9 meters shorter than Ilves (63m)! So 63-9=~40?? :D.

I guess you could say that 54m is a bit over 40m. :D

New render of Cirrus has arrived to YIT.fi!

http://www.yit.fi/binary.asp?guid=D1E543F8-6EEC-49B3-AFE0-8827AE68B10F&field=image

It looks rather traditional, very American.

I like it alot!
And fits very good to that place.

Cirrus LOOOOOOKs great, more renders of cirrus then the UC twin towers in tallinn :(

The construction of Cirrus is going to start next week (week 43), YIT project leader Lasse Vanhanen said in the Cirrus meeting today. It takes one year to reach the 92m height.
The speed of the elevators (2) is 2,5m/s, and both elevators can hold 13 people.

Few exambles of the prices (notice that the tower is located 15km from the downtown):
11th floor: 1 bedroom, 54,5m2 194 400e
11th floor: 2(3) bedrooms, 94,5m2 334 300e
18th floor: 2(3) bedrooms, 94,5m2 400 800e
25th floor: 2(3) bedrooms, 108m2 615 700e
25th floor: 4 bedrooms, 142m2 812 900e

Is it known what materials will be used for cladding besides glass?
The design could be more interesting but it's still good and the final result will depend on the exterior quality. In the rendering it slightly resembles R.Foster's 8 Canada Square :)

Somekind of reflecting steel net (?). The southern facade will be all glass.

^
That "reflecting steel net" will, of course, be used in the windows only. I wonder what the "white" part of the exterior will look


@ Jonas

You're absolutely right! There's some resemblence to 8 Canada Square - too bad it isn't as tall, though.

Is Canada sqr8 the same thing as HSBC? I've been to London just last spring, but I'm not very good with numbers :) I like Cirrus' newest rendering, most importantly, it's not covered under glass panels like the trend in Finland has been the last 8-10 years. As OL said, very American, very neutral.

@Moolio

Yes 8 Canada Square = HSBC , it's one of my favorite skyscrapers :)

When I think of it more, some of my favourite high-rises are actually very bland such as MesseTurm, HSBC and other Canary Wharf skyscrapers, Chrysler Building and Trump World Tower. Vancouver's One Wall Centre makes an exception.

It's refershing to see a modern Finnish high-rise that isn't all covered in glass. Lot more personal this way.

Lautakunnan kokouksessa 5.10.2004 pöydälle pantu asia:
54-2110-04-A
Paulig Oy
54/54184/1, Iiluodontie 9
26-kerroksinen teräsbetonirakenteinen asuinkerrostalo, yht. 140 asuinhuoneistoa ja 2-kerroksinen paikoitushalli, jonka kansi maisemoidaan asukkaiden ulkotilaksi.
Palautettiin uudelleen valmisteltavaksi

Few weeks ago, the construction licence of Cirrus "was left on the table", and today they sent it back to the preparation stage (don't know how to say this in english, sorry) but again, we have to wait 2 more weeks.
I'm really pissed off. Helsingin Rakennuslautakunta SUCKS!!!

Why can't they just approve it?

But YIT said that they will start the construction this week, and I really hope that they will do that.

Helsingin Rakennuslautakunta SUCKS!!!

Seconded.

This is unbelievable. Not only do they fight to the last man against anything higher than a pile of dogshit, they'll also doing everything they can to slow down and distract projects that are already becoming reality.
I'm glad Espoo doesn't have the same attitude problem (which they do have against the subway to the west, though)

Oh, I can picture it now:

Helsinki City Planning Council/Whatchamacallit takes a trip to NY.

Mayor of NY/Head of City Planning/Whatever: "Well, how do you like our city?"

HCPC/W: "Hmmm, if you demolished those ugly things (points towards the skyscrapers), replaced them with parks, shot 99% of the population and moved the rest to the countryside, I guess it'd look relatively okay..."

CPC/W: "Hmmm, if you demolished those ugly things (points towards the skyscrapers), replaced them with parks, shot 99% of the population and moved the rest to the countryside, I guess it'd look relatively okay..."
:D

I don't mind a few weeks more, for I've been waiting for this tower since 1999. It's not the end of the world.

I don't know, it occured to me that recently I've become less interested of "tall buildings" than before. Partially because of frustration with the situation here, and so I've started thinking "why bother since we're never going to rank very highly as what comes to high-rises".

High-rises aren't that important for sure. It's not like they make a good city, and if I were to choose between them and good infrastructure / living conditions / public transport / etc, I'd choose the latter. Rome, one of the most amazing cities in the world, doesn't have them and it's still incredible place. Same with Prague and a lil' country called Iceland.

Gonna have a little break from the forums, though if SOMETHING does happen --

like someone decides to build something like this in Finland

http://home.hetnet.nl/~hongkongphotopage/center/center.jpg

-- I'll end my vacation. But if not, I won't be here that much in the upcoming weeks. I'll be in the MSN and ICQ, though. So if you want to talk about the meet-up, I can be contacted via there. :)

/\Ey buddy, there's plenty more to this forum than highrises. Like the things you described that makes a city good, infrastructure, public transport, architecture etc. Finland has alot of the latter! Highrises are not all that important for me eighter. Some of them are cool, that's all. I'd take a 4 floor 19'th century city block over a highrise made in the 70'ies any day!
http://www.pbase.com/northstar77/image/26963293.jpg

.
.
.
For someone this is probably like swearing in a church;)

I agree with NorthStar77.

"I'd take a 4 floor 19'th century city block over a highrise made in the 70'ies any day!"
So would I :)

Heh, hope you (Finns) voted for Kokoomus. ;)

check this (joke) out... (http://mikko.makkonen.kokoomus.net/mikko_makkonen/teemat/keski-pasila/)

I would have, but they didn't have a suitable candidate here behind God's back.

Gotta love mr. Makkonen's moustache. He didn't make it, but based on what I saw at candidate selector of Helsingin Sanomat, almost every candidate of Kokoomus was in favour of making Keski-Pasila a skyscraper area. Last Friday, I (litereally) almost bumped into Ben Zyskowicz at the campaign tent of National Coalition. I would've asked him his opinion about KP, but he was being interrogated some old lady. Their coffee was good, however, and on my way out they tried to persuade me to join Kokoomusnuoret. :D

Voted for Kokoomus, though.

i'm too young to vote :(
Just found out that my old gym/sport teacher was candidate too :D
http://www.sydanmaa.com/

Kokoomus got my vote also :).. too bad the guy i voted didn't make it! (I don't remember if anyone I have voted ever in any election has been chosen ;) ). The guy I voted for replied in some election-machine that they should increase building rights in Tampere and build skyscrapers to Ratina :D

Just found out that my old gym/sport teacher was candidate too :D
http://www.sydanmaa.com/

^
http://www.sydanmaa.com/images/Johanna2.jpg

And I always had some men as my gym teachers. :hammer:



Of the people I've voted for in elections only my EU parliament candidate has been elected (the guy known for his huge smile -- I think you know whom I'm referring to)

@Ober:

Oh don't remember seeing like a million fake pictures of your EU candidate :D :D.. but now that I think of, I don't even remember who I voted (maybe because he/she didn't get it ;) ) And now that really started to bother me who it was that I voted... damn

EDIT: I had to dig up all the nominees up but now I remember :). I can tell you it was NOT Jäätteenmäki, I would have like anti-voted her if it would've been possible :)

Todays Helsingin Sanomat informed that there are plans to build 5 new 14 storey residential buildings to the Kerava "downtown" (Oberleutnants former hometown). There are already 3 residential towers in the area.

http://img107.exs.cx/img107/1480/Keravantornit.jpg


Kerava r0x0r!

;)

Looks very nice. :)
IMO The attitudes againts highrises are finally starting to change.

from kerava.fi

Keravan keskustan yleissuunnitelmasta valmisteilla kaksi eri vaihtoehtoa

(3.11.2004)

Keravan keskustan yleissuunnitelmaksi on valmisteilla kaksi vaihtoehtoa. Vuoden 2003 alussa tehdyn Keravan kävelykeskustan kehittäminen -selvityksen ja sen yhteydessä tehtyjen luonnosten pohjalta Keravan kaupunkisuunnittelun arkkitehti Liisa Vaahtera on laatinut yhden vaihtoehdon keskustan yleissuunnitelmaksi. Toisen vaihtoehdon Vaahtera työstää vuoden 2005 alkuun mennessä. "Toisessa vaihtoehdossa uusi rakentaminen on matalampaa ja rakennusoikeuden lisäys vähäisempää", toteaa Vaahtera.

Keravan kävelykeskusta on kehittynyt 1980- ja 1990-luvuilla merkittävästi. Keravalla on yksi Suomen ensimmäisiä kävelykeskustoja. Nykyisen laajuuden kävelykeskusta saavutti vuonna 1995. Vuosien varrella kaupunki on laatinut monia eri kohteiden kehittämissuunnitelmia.

"Elävän kaupunkikeskustan kehittäminen tulee olla jatkuva prosessi, jota kaupunki tekee yhteistyössä kiinteistönomistajien, paikallisten liikkeenharjoittajien ja palvelualojenyrittäjien kanssa. Suunnittelun tavoitteena on ollut luoda Keravan keskustan tulevaisuuden visio ja samalla tarkastella korttelikohtaisesti lisärakentamismahdollisuuksia ja niistä seuraavia autopaikkatarpeita", toteaa kaupunginjohtaja Rolf Paqvalin.

"Korkeat tornitalot Keravan keskustassa tarvitsevat ympärilleen korkeita ja arkkitehtuurisesti oleellisesti korkeatasoisempia rakennuksia tasapainottamaan kaupunkikuvaa. Jotta keskustasta muodostuisi elävä ja vireä, on asuntojen määrää lisätty runsaasti. Asuntojen ja asukkaiden määrän kasvaessa lisääntyy myös kaupallisten palveluiden tarve. Asukasmäärän kasvu kävelykeskustassa on yksi liikkeiden menestymisen perusedellytys. Myös liikerakentamiselle on osoitettu runsaasti rakennusoikeutta yleissuunnitelmassa", jatkaa Paqvalin.

Tiivistä kaupunkirakentamista

Yleissuunnitelmassa kaupunkirakennetta on tiivistetty erityisesti Kauppakaaren länsi- ja itäpäässä. "Keravan maamerkki kolme tornitaloa ovat saaneet suunnitelmassa viisi korkeaa asuinkerrostaloa kumppanikseen. Kauppakaaren ja Keskikadun välissä sijaitsevissa kortteleissa on asuinrakentamisen rakennusoikeutta kasvatettu noin 28 000 kerrosneliömetrillä", kertoo Vaahtera keskustan yleissuunnitelmasta.

Kauppakaaren länsipään marketit on oletettu suunnitelmassa purettavan. Niiden tilalle on esitetty katutasoon liikerakentamista ja ylempiin kerroksiin asuinrakentamista. Ns. Petterin kiinteistön toiseen kerrokseen on ehdotettu sijoitettavan elokuvateatteri ja kahvila-ravintola. Kaupungintalon ja Sampotalon tilalle ensimmäiseen ja toiseen kerrokseen esitetään liike- ja toimistorakentamista ja kahteen tornitaloon asuinrakentamista.

"Kävelykeskustan rakenteellisen kehittämisen kannalta on tärkeää, että uusiin liiketiloihin saataisiin runsaasti pienliiketiloja parantamaan tarjontaa ja elävöittämään kävelykatua", korostaa Vaahtera.

Liikerakentamista kävelykatua elävöittämään

Kauppakaaren itäpäässä Puuvalonaukion laidalla sijaitsevan Seuratalon tilalle on esitetty rakennusoikeudeltaan nykyistä rakennusta huomattavasti suurempi uudisrakennus. Ensimmäisessä kerroksessa on liikerakentamista, jota on laajennettu nykyiselle paikoitusalueelle.

"Paikoitusalueen puolelle liike- ja toimistokerrosten päälle on sijoitettu kolme kuusikerroksista asuinkerrostaloa, joiden pihat sijaitsevat liikerakennusosan katolla. Hallintopuiston reunassa sijaitsevaan vanhaan kauppalantaloon eli nykyiseen sosiaalivirastoon on liitetty uusi kaupungintalo valtuustosaleineen. Vanhan kirjaston tilalle on kaavailtu viisi-kuusikerroksista rakennusta, jossa on yhdistetty hotelli, liiketilaa ja opiskelija-asuntoja. Radan itäpuolelle, asemaa vastapäätä, on mahdollista rakentaa massiivinen liike- ja toimistorakennus", visioi Vaahtera.

Kaiken kaikkiaan suunnitelma sallisi ydinkeskustassa noin 110 000 kerrosneliömetrin kerrosalan lisäyksen, josta 76 000 kerrosneliömetriä on asuinrakentamista. Liiketilan rakennusoikeudessa on mukana tuleva Prisman laajennus ja Viertolan hypermarket.


Oh yeah, since no one has ever heard of Kerava before:


population: 30,000
distance to Hki: 30 kilometers
- part of Hki metropoiltan area
- over 60% of the inhabitants commute to work outside the town, mainly to Vantaa, Espoo and Helsinnki
- Hki can be reached by train from Kerava in less than 30 minutes
- good place to live, if a bit boring

GO Kerava GO! :).. But let's wait for the other "lower" plan before we cheer ;)

Does it really matter if they get them built? They are after all only 14-floorers, which would indicate a height of about 42-45m. That's not very much.

Moolio, its finland, remember.... i think those are great!

Does it really matter if they get them built? They are after all only 14-floorers, which would indicate a height of about 42-45m. That's not very much.

The town has ~ 30.000 people and its "downtown" is dominated by three existing towers. If those new residentials are given proper look and enough variation, it would look very nice.

By the way, doesn't Lutakko's residential "tower" only have 15 stories? Does it really matter if it gets built? ;) Going by this logic, should we just ignore that Cirrus, which has 26 stories over the ground, while in Asia even 60 story buildings just pop out like 7 story buildings here.

Anything taller than average, as long as it has something to contribute to the area, is fine with me in Finland.

Edit: I know, it's rather sad.

I wouldn't be really surprised if the area, when realized, would have maybe only one or two new towers. I'd be fine with that, too.



Edit 2: No, that ;) smiley in this post isn't one of those "I'm flamebaiting you and being a total jerk, even though I just want to pretend that I'm joking". Honestly, sorry if it seemed like that.

The existing town hall (in the map "nykyinen kaupungintalo") that will be teared down

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/Kerava/townhall.jpg



Keuda-talo (polytechnic / auditorium)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/Kerava/poly.jpg



The yard of Nikkarin koulu (high-school / senior high)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/Kerava/keskusta7.jpg




Those residentials on the map that are situated next to that pond (it's under construction)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/oberleutnant/Kerava/keskusta9.jpg






Regardless of whether those new high-rises are built or not, it's safe to say that Kerava will improve a lot in the upcoming years. Even without them, the center of town will turn several times more lively than it is now.

http://img126.exs.cx/img126/7312/Kielotorni.jpg
Kielotorni construction site, the crane is ~75meters tall.


Rendering:
http://www.skanska.fi/asunnot/img/3165/ikonikuva.jpg

Sdes:

You found the perfect spot to shoot the crane :D It's like identical with the rendering :) hehe

Yay, nothing special, but once again we have a new modest 15 story project to add to our ever growing list. From today's Uutislehti 100, which I happened to pick from a bench left in a commuter train:

Finland's biggest water spa and a large entertainment center will be built next to shopping center Jumbo in Vantaa. Among buildings in the entertainment center will be a movie theater with 6 to 8 screens and a 15 story hotel. Everything should be finished at the end of the year 2007.

The area where Kehä III meets Tuusula motorway is becoming rather good for high-rise enthusiasts. This new hotel, Autotalo, Veromies tower, Aiport City West End tower and an unknown round tower -- all will be built within a stone's throw from each other.

Since it's a hotel and hotels usually have low room height, I suppose 15 stories means ~ 50 m. Veromies, an office tower, and that round tower will probably be ~ 60-70 m, Airport City ~ 60 m, while Autotalo will be ~ 40-50 m.

Cute little cluster. :)

Kielotorni's crane from a commuter train heading to Kerava. ;)

http://img126.exs.cx/img126/9293/crane1.jpg

Old rendering of the tower Ober talked about:
http://img126.exs.cx/img126/5804/127308.jpg

^
Wouldn't mind if they kept that design. At least it's not "yet another box".

I agree, it isn't "yeat another box". But the design is still not the best design i've seen. Perhaps it would go good with a more unique design.

^
No, definitely not. Compared to something like Rica hotel in Molde it's hardly great, but I'm easily satisfied.

Arse, just found these from vantaa.fi

Aerial of the area as it looks now:

http://www.vantaa.fi/binary.asp?path=1;135;137;222;2394;2829;2873;18292;21540&field=FileAttachment&version=1



And a fucking dull design for the tower / water spa

http://www.vantaa.fi/binary.asp?path=1;135;137;222;2394;2829;2873;18292;21532&field=FileAttachment&version=2



http://www.vantaa.fi/binary.asp?path=1;135;137;222;2394;2829;2873;18292;21531&field=FileAttachment&version=2

from a pdf file at vantaa.fi


http://img51.exs.cx/img51/5909/hotelli1.jpg



http://img51.exs.cx/img51/143/hotelli2.jpg



http://img51.exs.cx/img51/6619/hotelli3.jpg




http://img51.exs.cx/img51/2162/hotelli4.jpg




The structural height of the tower part will be ~ 62 meters and its roof will be 89 meters above the sea level.

Even that the tower is "just" 62m tall, I'm very interested in this project. It is massive and definitely dominates the area skyline when the all planned towers are ready (if they ever will be)

Tampereen kaupunki myy veturitallien tontin SOK:lle

Tampereen kaupunki aikoo myydä veturitallien tontin Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunnalle viidellä miljoonalla eurolla.

SOK rakentaa rautatieaseman lähellä sijaitsevalle tontille kiistellyn tornihotellin. Rakentaminen varmistui syyskuussa, kun Korkein oikeus hylkäsi hotellista tehdyt valitukset. Yli 20-kerroksinen rakennus nousee suojeltujen veturitallien kylkeen.

Ennen rakentamista tontin maaperä on puhdistettava. Puhdistuskustannuksista vastaavat SOK ja kaupunki puoliksi. SOK osallistuu kustannuksiin kuitenkin korkeintaan 170 000 eurolla.

Kaupunginhallitus käsittelee kauppakirjaa iltapäivän kokouksessaan.
(22.11.2004)

-----------------

A short version in English:

City of Tampere will sell the old train-halls and it's land to SOK for 5 million euros. SOK will build the 24-storey Radisson SAS -hotel to that plot. Before the building starts, the land must be cleaned.

Great news! :D Nothing about the schedule though but as soon as I hear something more specific I'll let you know! :) :)

^^^ Some really great news :okay:

Great news! :)
Thanks grendy.

Tornihotelli saattaa valmistua 2008
(23.11.2004 09:06) Tampereen rautatieaseman tuntumaan nouseva Radisson SAS -tornihotelli saattaa parhaassa tapauksessa olla valmis vuonna 2008. Suunnittelutyön arvioidaan vievän puolitoista vuotta ja rakentamisen saman verran. Esteet 23-kerroksisen rakennuksen toteuttamiselle poistuivat, kun korkein hallinto-oikeus alkusyksystä hylkäsi kaavaehdotuksesta tehdyt valitukset. Maanantaina kaupunginhallitus hyväksyi tontin myynnin SOK:lle viidellä miljoonalla eurolla.

Short and simple again: :)

The planned hotel-tower maybe finished in 2008
In the best case, the Radisson SAS-hotel will be finished in the year 2008.
SOK will make a final decision about the construction next month. The planning of the hotel is estimated to take 1,5 years (I hope they plan the looks of the building carefully :) ) and the construction the same time.

So, the waiting continues! But at least things are moving forward and I won't get bored to wait the city's tallest to be built! :)

Specs of the building who don't remember or don't wanna check out the first page of this thread:
Height: 76m
Floors: 24

I'm still feeling angry about the stuff you uncovered related to those Tampella skyscrapers . . . such a project, four 40 story high-rises, APPROVED and then . . .


From satuhassi.net:

1980-luvun loppupuolen olin vapaa kirjailija ja vihreä kaupunginvaltuutettu Tampereella. Valtuustossa kovin koitokseni oli taistelu ns. Tampella-sopimuksesta kesällä 1989. Valtuustossa kärsimme murskatappion, mutta saimme suuren yleisön tuen, voitimme korkeimmassa hallinto-oikeudessa.

Nyt Tampellan vanhalla tehdasalueella on oikein hyvä asemakaava ja sen maisema tuli jopa 20 mk:n seteliin. Samana syksynä minut valittiin Vihreän liiton varapuheenjohtajaksi. Vuonna 1990 kirjoitimme yhdessä Pekka Saurin ja Pauli Välimäen kanssa Vihreän liiton ensimmäisen puolueohjelman.


:pet:

grendy, has the construction of Fenix Sirius started yet?

sdes:
Nope, no news about it. The sign with the picture of the building is still on place but nothing has happened. I haven't heard absolutely anything about it for a long time, but the residential buildings of Tampella-area seem to be almost finished so I hope they'll start to build the commercial buildings next. There are at least two normal 8-floorers to be built with Sirius so don't know which building they will start with (let's hope for the best:) ). I work at Tampella-area so if anything interesting happens I'll notice it on the same day and inform you all :D

Ok, thanks. :)
Yep, let's hope for the best.

According to this article http://www.rakli.fi/locus/kielotorni.htm, the Kielotorni will be about 50meters tall. I quess that with the spire it would be around 70meters.

Here's the model of Kielotorni, not ready yet:
http://img98.exs.cx/img98/3424/f9mkielotornisdes.jpg

So some news about Fenix Sirius (62m). I asked about the project straight from YIT and I got a reply which said the project isn't going to happen soon. The demand for office space is quite low at the moment and the existing space is enough to satisfy the market. YIT said they're expecting demand to rise 2007 so they said the building gets done most likely before 2010.

Goddamn I will be a grandpa before anything gets done here :D. Well I totally understand that it would be stupid to build an expensive building if there aren't enough people to rent it, but never the less... wait and wait...

YIT said they're expecting demand to rise 2007 so they said the building gets done most likely before 2010.

This is bad comedy. I first read about Fenix Sirius in 2001 at emporis.com (then known as skyscrapers.com) Thanks for the news, though.




@ sdes

Your best model yet. When can we expect to have model of every major Finnish "high-rise" available? :D We (in other words: you!) could create a virtual model thing or something.

Sad news, maybe because of the same reason the construction of the Panorama tower hasn't started yet. Anyway thanks for this information.


@ sdes

Your best model yet. When can we expect to have model of every major Finnish "high-rise" available? :D We (in other words: you!) could create a virtual model thing or something.
Thanks :)
That will take a looong time, after finishing Cirrus, Kielotorni and Maamerkki I could make a model of the Verotorni in Merihaka.

Greetings!

I'm new here, but I live in Vantaa and I have been watching my hometown grow during the years and I thought I might enlighten you on some of the projects taking place in the airport region (Aviapolis - www.aviapolis.fi).

Starting from west - Pakkalantie/Kehä III - the "Veromies towers" you have mentioned and the "Airport City west end" project are umfortunately the same project. What you are talking about as the "Veromies towers" were early plans for ABBs "Airport City" project.

Towards east - Lentoasemantie (NOT Tuusula motorway)/Kehä III - the area that will be a landmark for the whole Aviapolis airpot city. There are plans of up to five towers, with up to 16 stories, in this area. These towers have already been approwed by the city but there's not much information on who, how and when they will be built. The picture sdes posted with the towers in front of Jumbo shopping centre (southeast of Lentoasemantie/Kehä III) shows a different tower than the 15 stories hotel Oberleutnat talks about. The hotel/water spa will be built BEHIND Jumbo. This tower in FRONT of Jumbo was mentioned in an article in "Vantaan Sanomat" less than two months ago: The investors behind Jumbo - Eläke Fennia and Polar Kiinteistöt - have plans on starting the construction of this tower when the second phase of Jumbo is finished in spring 2006. The construction of the hotel/water spa on the other hand is planned to start already spring 2005!

This is all the information I have at the moment but I'm looking forward to hearing about the "Round tower" and the other projects planned in that area. The whole Aviapolis project is very iteresting with beautiful business parks and office buildings constantly rising up.

(osoitteessa http://kartta.vantaa.fi voi käydä katsomassa ja toteamassa että Lentoasemantien ja kehä kolmosen liittymän läheisyyteen on tosiaan jo kaavoitettu muutama torni, mm. tämä jumbon torni, "pyöreä" torni risteyksen koillis puolella sekä kymmen kerroksinen torni lounais puolella. Myös luoteis nurkkaan on tietääkseni tulossa korkea rakennus (josta puhuttu todellisena maamerkkinä) mutta sen kerroslukua ei asemakaavassa kerrota. Etsikää vain kyseinen risteys kartalta ja valitkaa vierestä "kartat" - "ajantasa-asemakaava")

Up to five towers? I think you just made my day (not that I actually believe seeing them ever).

Anyways welcome aboard!

Welcome PC.
And great project news, Vantaa is really booming :)

btw. Moolio, are you coming to Helsinki/Vuosaari soon?

btw. Moolio, are you coming to Helsinki/Vuosaari soon?

Actually yeah, I am. I'm planning to come back to civilization (:D) by December the 20th. Would do you and the rest of the Helsinkian forumers like to organise a little meet-up? I'll probably be in hurry like never before with my studies, but I think I can make it. :cool:

Great. :)
How long you'll stay? The christmas holiday begins 22.12 so after that I'm free almost every day.

I really can't say, it depends on how much homework I get done before Christmas. I suspect, though, that I'll be in Helsinki (or Espoo, actually) until New Year or so.

Here's an illustration I just found from year 2000 of two towers on both sides of Lentoasemantie, north of Kehä III. Sponda (www.sponda.fi) owns these two but has yet announced no scendule for possible constrction.

http://194.188.93.116/gm/wl/newsp/vsan/pic/000524/42TORNIT.JPG

Aye caramba! Welcome PC and thanks for the good news! If these towers get realized just imagine what our capital region would look like to ppl arriving by plane :) Aviapolis could very well be a nice cluster of high-rises soon. Hard to think any reason for NIMBYs to resist this development?

edit: This news was good enough for me to break my silence here ;)

Wow!
I hope that they don't change the design. :)
Too many boxes already in Finland.

The crane has appeared to the Cirrus construction site, the height is somewhere around 40m (this is the crane which will build the real crane ;)j/k). I will post some photos after a few days.

wow so soon! :) it took forever for ttt - Tallinns tornimäe twins to get their own crane! :(

http://img59.exs.cx/img59/7006/ekanosturi6ut.jpg
Here's the photo, a little dark.

Kewl :P have they built a box underground for the "real" crane already :)

No, atleast i think so. Not sure, because the site is surrounded by a 2meters tall fence. The so called land construction job (digging....) is almost ready. :)

EDIT: "ttt - Tallinns tornimäe twins" :D

Welcome and thanks, PC! :)



The list of all known projects:


+20 stories

Helsinki
Cirrus
2x Keski-Pasila buildings (?)

Tampere
Radisson SAS


15-20 stories

Helsinki region
Espoonlahti tower
Fortum II
Kivenlahti tower
Panorama tower
Kielotorni
Veromies tower
4x Keski-Pasila towers (?)
Round tower near Aviapolis (?) / Landmark tower (?)

Jyväskylä
Residential tower

Turku
Biotorni

Tampere
Fenix Sirius


12-14 stories

Helsinki region
5x Kerava towers (?)
Airport City West End
Autotalo
Hotel near Jumbo
Falcon Business Park (?)
4x towers in Aviapolis (?)

Tampere
1x Ratina tower (?)


32 towers -- very optimistic look of the future. I'm fairly sure this list is missing several 12 story buildings, though.


How many did I miss?

edit: fixed according to sdes' comments

Nice list Ober!
Actually the hotel in Ruoholahti is going to be 10-floors.

The first "piece" of the Cirrus construction crane was erected today. :)

Helsinki region future skyline with several tall buildings missing, from west to east:

http://img53.exs.cx/img53/4605/hesa5yw.jpg



edit: I know, some of the locations are wrong, too. This was just something I did quickly.

@Ober, that list looks pretty accurate to me! And you can take the question mark away from that ratina-tower, If i remember correctly, next year there will be held an architech-competition about that tower so it's pretty sure to be built "someday".. not expecting it before 2010 at the current speed though :)

One more addition to your list Ober! Those good ppl at Skanska are planning a residential tower for senior citizens right next to Leppävaara railway station. The planned tower would have 20 floors and the project site is currently under planning by the Espoo city council. It should be confirmed sometime during the year 2005 and the construction would start rightaway if it gets the permission...

No renderings yet though, but it would be as tall as the Panorama office tower (16 floors) which already has construction permit. Thus completing the "twin tower" scheme envisioned in the original Leppävaara downtown plan.

edit: Here´s a clip of the city planning departments meeting regarding this plan (sorry folks, in finnish only)
"Asemakaavan muutosehdotuksen kuvaus

Korttelialueen 51149 käyttötarkoitus muutetaan liike- ja toimistorakennusten korttelialueesta (K) asuinkerrostalojen korttelialueeksi (AK). Alueen nykyinen rakennusoikeus 8 000 k-m² säilyy. Kerrosluku muuttuu kuudestatoista (XVI) kahdeksikymmeneksi (XX), mikä johtaa yhtenäiseen korkeusasemaan Etelä-Leppävaaran alueelle tulevan toisen tornirakennuksen kanssa.
"

Towers for senior citizens...seems a bit funny as an idea ;). But I don't care who lives in them, as long as they get built! (wouldn't mind being one of the inhabitants anyway, well not in that senior-house but in a "normal" tower ;) )

grendy, I have wondered that too.
The 12 storey Lucia in Vuosaari is a "senior tower" too.

GARRR, how did I forgot that? I even have it as one of the main entries. I actually have a picture of it as it looks in the zone plan.

I don´t quite get it either. I´d imagine that location would be very much in demand for all ages of residents but I guess they know better then...
Whatever the case, I´m just glad to get a new tower in my hometown :)

Let´s keep our fingers crossed that this project will be realized. And I´m quite worried about the Panorama tower too cause nothing is happening at the site currently. Damn...

@Devilution, if you haven't noticed, these things take a lot of time in this country ;)

Found some old news of the planned towers:

-In early 90's Kone planned to build 100meters tall tower to the Ruoholahti, Helsinki

" Helsingin kiinteistölautakunta käsitteli tiistaina Kone Oy:n tornitalohanketta Ruoholahdessa, mutta jätti asian vielä pöydälle. Kiinteistövirasto esitti, että yhtiölle tulisi varata nykyisin Elmun hallinnassa oleva Lepakkoluolan tontti. Kone on suunnitellut rakentavansa Ruoholahteen tornitalon, jonka korkeus olisi noin 100 metriä."

"Helsingin kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta äänesti torstaina useita kertoja Kone Oy:n tornitalon sijaintipaikasta Ruoholahdessa. Lautakunta päätti lopulta äänin 4-4 puheenjohtaja Ylermi Rungon (sd) ratkaistessa esittää kaupunginhallitukselle, että Koneen tornille varattaisiin uusi paikka Porkkalankadun pohjoispuolelta Lepakon korttelista. Koneen taloa on tähän asti suunniteltu Porkkalankadun eteläpuolelle."

"Kone Oy:n pilvenpiirtäjälle etsitään uutta paikkaa Helsingin Ruoholahdesta. Kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta aikoo esittää kaupunginhallitukselle, että Koneelle 1987 varattu tontti siirretään Porkkalankadun eteläpuolelta Lepakon eli Elmun paikalle Porkkalankadun toiselle puolelle. Lautakunnan torstaisessa kokouksessa asia jäi vielä pöydälle. Kone on suunnitellut korkeimmillaan 25-kerroksista tornitaloa, jota ei kaupunkisuunnitteluviraston mukaan ole kuitenkaan saatu kelvollisesti istumaan Ruo"

"Kone Oy ei aio rakentaa satametristä toimistotornia tontille, jonka Helsingin kaupunginhallitus päätti huhtikuun lopulla varata yhtiön käyttöön. Varattu tontti on Porkkalankadun eteläpuolella vastapäätä Lepakon monitoimitaloa. Johtaja Martti Löf Koneesta kertoo, että yhtiössä on alettu vakavasti miettiä muita vaihtoehtoja. "Ajatus on se, että otetaan aikalisä ja katsotaan rauhassa kaupungin kanssa asiaa." :(

"Helsingin kaupunginhallitus myöntyi Kone Oy:n toivomukseen saada tornitalolleen tontti Ruoholahdesta Lepakon talon pohjoispuolelta. Yhtiön aikaisempi tonttivaraus oli alueella Porkkalankadun ja Itämerenkadun välissä olevassa toimistotalorivissä. Uuden tontin rakennusoikeus on ylimmillään 25000 neliötä, josta Koneen omaan käyttöön tulee 15000 neliötä. Rakennuksesta tulee 24-25 kerroksinen, jolloin sen korkeus on noin sata metriä."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Reimarintorni

28.2.1990
"Suomen korkeimmaksi asuintaloksi kasvava Reimarintorni on ehtinyt kavuta jo 14-kerroksiseksi Espoon Kivenlahdessa. Kaikkiaan Reimarintorniin tulee 17 kerrosta. Korkeutta kertyy 75 metriä, kolmisen metriä Helsingin Stadionin tornia enemmän. Tornitalon arkea eletään vuodenvaihteen jälkeen 93 asunnossa, joista valtaosa on yksiöitä ja kaksioita. Suurimmat, 132,5 neliön asunnot rakennetaan huipulle kaksikerroksisina."

"Kivenlahdessa juhlittiin torstaina Suomen korkeimman asuinkerrostalon harjannostajaisia. Ala-Kivenlahden ostoskeskuksen kupeeseen rakentuvassa Reimarintornissa on 17 kerrosta, joista kaksi alinta on liike- ja toimistotilaa ja loput asuntoja. Talolla on korkeutta 65 metriä ja katto huitelee 75,5 metrin korkeudella merenpinnasta. Arkkitehtitoimisto Simo Järvinen & Co:n suunnitteleman Reimarintornin asunnot ovat pääosin yksiöitä ja kaksioita."

---------------------------------------------------------

There were also plans to build three 25 storey towers to the Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, where SysOpen tower is located now.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Myyrmäen rakenteilla olevan liikekeskuksen laitaan Vantaalle aiotaan rakentaa 15-kerroksinen toimistotorni. Vantaan kaupunginhallitus päätti maanantaina esittää valtuustolle asemakaavan muutosta, joka tekee mahdolliseksi tornitalon rakentamisen. Toimistotornin rakentaa A. Puolimatka Oy, joka parhaillaan tekee myös uutta liikekeskusta Myyrmannia Myyrmäen aseman länsipuolelle. Liikekeskus valmistuu lokakuussa 1994."

-------------------------------------------------------------

KERAVA:

"Keravan keskustaan nykyisen kirjaston tontille rakennetaan 15-kerroksinen asuintalo. Keravan kaupunginhallitus päätti maanantaina äänestäen tehdä yhteistoimintasopimuksen hankkeesta Skanska Oy:n kanssa. Skanska on valmis rakentamaan tontille vapaarahoitteisen asuintalon siten, että rakennustyöt alkavat kesällä 1996. Tornitalo on neljäs Keravan keskustan "pilvenpiirtäjä". Varaus viidennelle asuintornille tehdään kirjaston paikalle."

7.6.1995
"Kerava aikoo myydä kirjastonsa pysäköintialueen rakennusyhtiö Skanskalle 5,6 miljoonalla markalla. Kaupunginhallitus päätti myöhään maanantaina esittää kauppaa valtuustolle. Valtuusto päättää kaupasta ensi maanantaina. Keravan ja Skanskan esisopimuksen mukaan Skanska saisi tontille 7000 kerrosneliön rakennusoikeuden. Skanska aikoo rakentaa tontille 15-kerroksisen vapaarahoitteisen asuintalon tai kaksi kahdeksankerroksista taloa. Keravan keskustassa on jo kolme tornitaloa."

18.10.1996
"Keravalle ehdolla nyt PYÖREITÄ asuntotorneja. Vaalikiistoina yhä hypermarket, kirjasto ja tornitalot Ympäristölautakunta pani nihkeästi kaavan nähtäville KAIJA AHO KERAVA - Ympäristölautakunta suostui nihkeästi panemaan nähtäville viimeisimmän esityksen keskustan tornitalojen kaavaksi. Kaikkiaan vaihtoehtoisia ratkaisuja Skanskan tornitaloille on tehty 12. Sibeliuksenkadun varteen kirjaston vierelle esitetään nyt kahta porrastettua pyöreälinjaista taloa."

22.8.1996
"Keravan keskustaprojektin monet hankkeet odottavat vielä rakennuskaavoja ja valitusten käsittelyä. Skanskan tornitalo lähtee rakentumaan kirjaston tontille ensi keväänä, jos lääninoikeuteen valtuuston päätöksestä tehdyt valitukset ja kaavan keskeneräisyys eivät ole esteenä. Johtaja Jorma Poikelan mukaan rakennustoiminta ja kysyntä ovat selvästi piristyneet Keski-Uudellamaalla. Poikela uskoo, että kovan rahan asunnot 15-kerroksisessa tornissa käyvät kaupaksi."
-------------------------------------------------------------

This has changed to the better way 22storey to 26storey :)
10.11.1995
"KOLMAS PAINOS Vuosaareen Vuosaaren uuden kauppakeskuksen etelä- ja kaakkoispuolen rakennussuunnitelmat ovat edenneet kaavaluonnokseksi. Kauppakeskuksen eteläpuolelle alueen maamerkiksi on suunniteltu 22-kerroksista tornitaloa, johon tulee suurimmaksi osaksi asuntoja. Asuntoja rakennettaisiin myös kapeaan, kiilamaiseen kortteliin kauppakeskukselta merelle ulottuvan puistokadun varteen. Viisi rakennusta olisi seitsemänkerroksisia pistetaloja."

28.4.1996
"Vuosaareen kaavaillun 25-kerroksisen tornin "etu on, että se ei sijaitse meren rannalla vaan kaupunginosan keskustassa. Paikka on suhteellisen hyvä", sanoo Helsingin kaupunkisuunnitteluvirastossa Vuosaaren suunnittelua johtava arkkitehti Anja Toppinen. Vuosaaren asuntotorni on positiivisempi kuin Espoossa kiivailtu Kivenlahden torni, hän sanoo. Kivenlahden tornissa on 22 kerrosta. Itäkeskuksen toimistotornissa niitä on 16. Kansainväliset arkkitehtikilpailut ovat päivän sana."

"Vuosaaren metroaseman tuntumaan nousee muutaman vuoden kuluttua Suomen korkein, 26-kerroksinen asuintalo. Talon katto on vähintään 90 metrin korkeudella meren pinnasta. Tontin omistava Paulig järjestää arkkitehtikilpailun, johon kutsutaan Suomesta kaksi ja ulkomailta neljä arvostettua arkkitehtia. Suunnittelukilpailu kestää runsaat kolme kuukautta. Työt on jätettävä toukokuun loppuun mennessä, ja kilpailu ratkaistaan syyskuussa."

14.12.1999
"Vuosaareen Helsinkiin rakennetaan Suomen korkein asuintorni. Sen korkeus merenpinnasta on yli sata metriä. Levymäiseen torniin tulee kaikkiaan 26 kerrosta. Taloa alettaneen rakentaa noin vuoden päästä. Pro Pauligin järjestämän kutsukilpailun voitti tanskalainen arkkitehtitoimisto Nielsen, Nielsen & Nielsen."

14.12.1999
"Vuosaaren keskustan maamerkiksi nousee tanskalaisen arkkitehtitoimiston Nielsen, Nielsen & Nielsenin suunnittelema levymäinen asuintorni. Tanskalaiset voittivat kansainvälisen kutsukilpailun, jonka tulokset julkistettiin maanantaina. Tornista tulee Suomen korkein asuintalo. Sen korkeus merenpinnasta on yli sata metriä. Se ohittaa Espoon Kivenlahden Meritornin, joka nousee 74 metriin merenpinnasta. Kerroksia rakennukseen tulee kaikkiaan 26."
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Maamerkki is taller than Fortum in Espoo?

"Itäkeskuksen 16-kerroksinen Maamerkki on tänä kesänä kymmenvuotias. Harva muistaa, että Helsingin itäiselle taivaalle kurottautuva toimistotorni on kaupungin korkeimpia rakennuksia: porrashuoneen päässä oleva maston kärki kohoaa lähes sadan metrin korkeuteen merenpinnasta. Maamerkki on yhtä korkea kuin Stadionin torni. Nesteen tornin Espoossa se päihittää muutamalla metrillä!! Vanha torni on mukava vertailukohde, kun kaupungissa kiistellään taas uusista maame ... "

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25.5.2000
"Kehä III:n ja Lentoasemantien risteykseen on tulossa kaksi uutta maamerkkiä. Lentoasemantien molemmille puolille on tarkoitus rakentaa kaksi toimistotornia. Korkeutta rakennuksille tulee 15 kerrosta ja ullakko. Vantaan kaupunginvaltuusto on hvyäksynyt toisen tornin vaatiman kaavamuutoksen. Toinen, jo hyväksytty 15-kerroksinen torni odottaa yhä toteutusta. Molempien suunniteltujen tornien tontit omistaa Sponda."

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"Helsingin kaupungin ranskalaiselta arkkitehti Dominique Perraultilta tilaamat suunnitelmat Salmisaaren hiilikentän tulevaisuudesta on esitelty 28. 11. Helsingin Sanomissa ja ovat parhaillaan esillä Rakennustaiteen museossa. Kolmesta ehdotuksesta yksi on 150 METRIÄ KORKEA ja saman verran leveä möhkäle, toinen viisisataametrinen merelle tunkeutuva "puikko" ja kolmas muka vehreällä kannella peitetty slummi. Pelottaviksi nämä kohellukset osoittautuvat, alkeellisuudestaan ... " :D:D

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24.1.2002
"Jyväskylän uusi maamerkki Innova otettiin käyttöön keskiviikkona. Yli 60-metrinen ja 15-kerroksinen torni on korkein toimistorakennus pääkaupunkiseudun Kehä 3:n pohjoispuolella. Tornitaloon sijoittuu ICT-alan eli informaatio-, kommunikaatio- ja tietotekniikkayrityksiä. Ensimmäisen kuukauden aikana kiinteistöön muuttaa noin 350 työntekijää."

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17.5.2002
"Energiayhtiö Fortum rakentaa toisen tornin Espoon Keilaniemeen. Uusi 16-kerroksinen rakennus nousee nykyisen Fortumin tornin ja it-yhtiö Compaq Computerin väliin. Rakennuksesta tulee suurin piirtein samannäköinen kuin naapuriin vastikään valmistuneesta Koneen tornista. Se tehdään lasista ja hiotusta valkeasta betonista. Espoon kaupunkisuunnittelulautakunta käsitteli torstaina Keilaniemen asemakaavan muutosta, joka sisältää sekä Fortumin että tietojärjestelmiä ja laitteita toimit .."

This was a very sad, but interesting post. Thanks man, totally awesome.

Guys, wanna laugh and cry at the same time?

>> http://www.mondonet.com/oulu/asematori.html


Asematori tornien sijasta

"Keskustaa vuosia pelotellut 'Kävelykatupeikko' on väistymässä. Uusia kävelykatuja tai entisten laajentamista ei ole näköpiirissä. Uusi aika tuo mukanaan myös pehmeämmät arvot ja vapaamman ilmapiirin", lupasi kaupungininsinööri Mauri Myllylä eläkkeelle jäädessään.

http://www.mondonet.com/aihe/asemavisio.jpg

Uusi visio: ei torneja, vaan asematori

"kävelykatupeikko" -- that's the silliest degratory word for a high-rise I've ever seen


This is how they boast with their new square later in another article


Kauppatori on kasvanut uudelleen kaupungin sydämeksi, niin oululaisten kuin vieraidenkin jokapäiväiseksi tapaamis- ja oleskelutilaksi.

"Oulun Torista syntyy käsite, jota tullaan katsomaan tänne ympäri maata"


So, could someone tell me how it's impossible to have a square and high-rises? To my knowledge Oulu is hardly known for its "beautiful cityscape". Never been there, but I suppose their city center consists of couple older buildings, with rest of the architecture being post-war?

From the website of the Oulu-based architect bureau Arkkitehtistudio EMP who designed these "Matkailukeskus" towers.

http://www.arkkitehtistudio.com/picoulu/hallituskatu.jpg


http://www.arkkitehtistudio.com/kuva/aksonom.jpg



They also has a page called "Tips for developers" where they write: Vaatimattomuus on hyve mutta kaupunkikuvassa se on nöyristelyä! Merenrantakaupunki Oulun vesistöt piiloutuvat rantakasvillisuuteen. Miltä kaupunki veden äärellä voisikaan näyttää?



Hartaanselän maisemassa on erämaan autiutta - ilman erämaata.

http://www.arkkitehtistudio.com/picoulu/hartaanselkaa.jpg


Asumista merenläheissä suistomaisemassa.
Hartaanselkää tulisi kehittää kaupungin sisäiseksi vesistöksi!

http://www.arkkitehtistudio.com/picoulu/hartaanselka.jpg





Interesting to see a Finnish architect, who seems to be such a strong advocate for high-rises.

the last drawing is like, Wooow! :P