New Think Corner building will emphasize energy efficiency and adaptability

Granlund served as a specialist for the winning entry of the University of Helsinki administration building competition

The current administration building of the University of Helsinki will be renovated and transformed into a meeting place for science and the public. The renovation will begin a year from now and be completed by the autumn of 2017. The architectural competition to find a designer for the renovation project was won by JKMM Architects. Granlund was involved in the JKMM team as a building services and energy efficiency specialist. The winner was selected from among six entries.

The administration building located on Yliopistonkatu 4 will not only get a new look but also a new function as part of the renovation. Think Corner will move to the building and offer a new kind of meeting place for the citizens of Helsinki and university people.

According to Asmo Jaaksi, who is a partner at JKMM Architects, the building was designed to be inviting and exciting, yet at the same time practical and multifunctional.

According to Granlund’s Project Development Director, Mika Reinikainen, the building services were designed to reflect the building’s values and to represent high standard Finnish technology. “The aim with all of the solutions was to ensure energy efficiency, preservation of natural resources and recyclability of the materials. The systems were designed to be flexible and easy to use,” he says.

For example, the ventilation system was designed as a decentralized system to ensure adaptability and the best possible energy efficiency, while the lighting was designed to be implemented using LED lights that can be controlled and adjusted as necessary based on occupancy and daylight regulation. The same kind of control was proposed to be used for controlling the ventilation system appropriately.

SRV-Rakennus Oy was selected as the main contractor for the project. The renovation will be carried out using a so-called alliance model in which the parties involved will carry out the design and building process in cooperation with each other from the beginning. The project designers will be selected soon.

Further information:

Press release by University of Helsinki (in Finnish): https://university.helsinki.fi/fi/uutiset/tulossa-uusi-tiedekulma

Architectural plan: http://toimisto.jkmm.fi/_6puZ6rFPB7lR4R

Mika Reinikainen
Director, Project Development and Competition Projects
Granlund Oy
Tel. +358 50 525 2560
firstname.lastname@granlund.fi

Picture: JKMM Architects