Every Finnish High-Rise Project

[Oberleutnant]

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)

[John]

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 :)

[Oberleutnant]

:)
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.

[Mantas]

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:

[Devilution]

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.

[NorthStar77]

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

[DenverDane]

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!

[Gatis]

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 ;)

[sdes]

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!

[AtlanticaC5]

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

[Jarmo K]

Keski-Pasila Project - :lol:

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

[grendy]

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 ;)

[sdes]

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

[Edd]

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:.

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[sdes]

:)
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

[Oberleutnant]

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

[Devilution]

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 :)

[Jarmo K]

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

[Devilution]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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!

[Oberleutnant]

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

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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. :)

[sdes]

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

[Jarmo K]

yay, nice! (:

[Oberleutnant]

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. :)

[sdes]

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

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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

[sdes]

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 :)

[Devilution]

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! :)

[Oberleutnant]

Glad to hear you're fine, devi.

[Oberleutnant]

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

[sdes]

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. :)

[Oberleutnant]

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

[Devilution]

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:

[sdes]

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

[Devilution]

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 :)

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[sdes]

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

[sdes]

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

EDIT: Updatet the Lucia picture.

[Gatis]

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

[Mantas]

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

[NorthStar77]

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

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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)

[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

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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

[Devilution]

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...

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

*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!

[sdes]

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

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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

[Devilution]

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.

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[Oberleutnant]

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?

[Devilution]

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!

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

Farewell, thread!


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


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

[John]

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 :)

[Oberleutnant]

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).

[Gatis]

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!

[NorthStar77]

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!

[sdes]

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

[Mantas]

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:

[Devilution]

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 ;)

[sander]

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.

[ch1le]

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:)

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[grendy]

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 :).

[Devilution]

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.

[grendy]

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 :)

[ch1le]

atleast the construction sign is there!

[grendy]

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 ;)

[Oberleutnant]

*has a heart attack*

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

[sdes]

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

[grendy]

: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 :).

[sdes]

: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

[grendy]

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

[sdes]

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)

[ch1le]

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

[Mantas]

You lucky bastards :D :drool:

[grendy]

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).

[sdes]

Great news again grendy! :)

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

[sdes]

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

[ch1le]

Nice Render Sdes!

[grendy]

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

[sdes]

Thanks guys! :)

[Renx]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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

[grendy]

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:

[grendy]

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:

[grendy]

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.

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[sdes]

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

[grendy]

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 :).

[grendy]

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! :)

[Gatis]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[grendy]

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:

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[grendy]

where's this forum? :)

[Oberleutnant]

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. :)

[Oberleutnant]

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*

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[Oberleutnant]

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

[Devilution]

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...

[sdes]

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

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

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[Devilution]

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.

[Oberleutnant]

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?

[Devilution]

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.

[sdes]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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.

[sdes]

"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

[Oberleutnant]

@ 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.

[grendy]

@Ober:

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

[Oberleutnant]

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

[grendy]

Okay sdes speak! :)

[Oberleutnant]

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

[Oberleutnant]

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

[Moolio]

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?

[Moolio]

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

[sdes]

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.

[Oberleutnant]

@ Moolio

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

[ch1le]

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

[Moolio]

@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.

[sdes]

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. :(

[grendy]

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

[Moolio]

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.

[Oberleutnant]

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

[Moolio]

@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. :(

[sdes]

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

[Moolio]

@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? :)

[sdes]

Vanha Vuosaari looks very green compared to the new are