Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2014 | Page 36

Kruunuvuorenranta, a new seaside and real closeto-the-nature residential area will be “Light City”,
where integrating lighting art to all residential plots
in a novel way.

fined by their temporary and inexpensive nature. This way, it doesn’t take long to figure
out what works and what doesn’t. The key
lies in open participation: getting the residents involved in developing smart solutions
which improve the quality of life for all.
Hannu Penttilä points out that Smart
Kalasatama is no vision: it is about taking action and making a difference. “We’re
building a real city district with real people
– and using real smart solutions to do it,” he
sums up. The development of the Kalasatama district will continue to the 2030’s, and,
eventually, the district will become home
to 20,000 residents and 8,000 jobs. Today,
Kalasatama is already home to about 1,500
residents.
Kalasatama will also feature highrise construction of unprecedented verticality: The Kalasatama Centre will consist
of eight tower blocks which will feature
20–33 storeys (the highest tower reaching
126 metres). The towers will be complemented by a versatile commercial centre –
which is to include a world-class mall – and
a social and healthcare centre.

Kruunuvuorenranta:
Light City
Slightly removed from Kalasatama and Jätkäsaari, there is something equally exciting
in the works, as well. A new seaside district, Kruunuvuorenranta, will be built during the next decade opposite the city centre,
on the eastern shore of Kruunuvuorenselkä
open sea. Project Manager Kari Pudas can’t
say enough of the project: “It’s the perfect
development project with a perfect location,” he says, adding that the distance to
downtown is only three kilometres, over
the waves.
This close-to-the-nature residential
area will be built in an area to be vacated
by oil tanks – and in fact, the oil tanks have
34 Nordicum

a role in raising the profile of the neighbourhood, too. An art project, using light in an
innovative way – called Oil Container 468
– has been lighting up the neighbourhoodto-be for a while now. The light installation
provides an ample symbol for the area, since
the idea is to turn Kruunuvuorenranta into
“Light City”. This means, for instance, integrating lighting art to all residential plots
in a novel way. The over-all lighting principles of the area were developed via an international design contest.

Marine Magic
In addition, the profile of the area is very
much about the nature – there are impressive
forests here and even the last remaining nature-state pond in Helsinki. It is clear that the
location of the district in an archipelagian
seascape – on a peninsula projecting into
the sea – is of exceptional beauty. The presence of the sea can be sensed everywhere
and the shore can be reached by foot in a
matter of minutes.
And there is rich history to build on,
too: Kari Pudas points out that there is an old
silver mine in the neighbourhood and an old
mansion community. “We want expand on
this legacy to build a great new community.”
And the construction effort is in full
swing: ground was broken in spring 2013 as
the street and infrastructure network started
to take shape. “The residential construction
will start in April 2014,” says Pudas.

Wanted: Social Anchors
According to the Kruunuvuorenranta vision, the neighbourhood could well become
a spa area for the metropolitan area, complete with a great beach. In order to make
that dream come true, the beach may well
materialise before the houses themselves.
After all, if you’re going to build an area for

15–20 years, it makes sense to create “social anchors” to make the neighbourhood
better known.
Another interesting feature is the
“Canal City”