Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2015 | Page 26

Photo: HKP Architects

According to traffic predictions,
Matinkylä – Kivenlahti metro connection
will increase daily public transportation trips
by 5,300 trips by 2035. The metro line will
decrease both the use of private cars and
buses. With regards to private cars owned
by the citizens, there will be a decrease of
20,000 kilometres driven per day. This is
equivalent of having 200–300 cars taken off
the road entirely.
The metro is scheduled to run every
four minutes. According to estimates,
75,000 people will cross the border of Espoo
and Helsinki everyday by metro in 2035.
Garage space for cars is an issue especially
at Finnoo, Espoonlahti and Kivenlahti stations. The City promises to take into consideration all forms of feeder traffic: from busses and private cars to pedestrians and bicy24 Nordicum

clists. The stations themselves should provide some “eye candy” too, as is the case
with the original stretch.

Emphasise the Experience
Matti Kokkinen and Olavi Louko assess that
the stations will deliver a totally new type of
metro experience, each having, in a sense,
a personality of their own. In fact, since a
range of respected artists has been hired to
work on the original stretch’s own designated stations – with artist Jaakko Niemelä
coordinating the over-all effort – the same
winning formula will probably be used in
the realisation of the new stations.
The City of Espoo wants to take the
visual experience to a new level while preserving functionality: the stations promise

to deliver “instant recognition”. This means
that you can be sitting in the train and you
need only to glance at the station you’re on
and know immediately where you are.
Obviously, the lighting of the stations plays a big role in the eventual userexperience. Therefore natural light will be
exploited whenever possible and lighting
solutions are aimed to promote accessibility and to prevent glare. Good lighting also
goes a long way to boost safety which is
also one of the key issues on the City’s list.
Furthermore, all stations have been planned
to be located as close to the surface as possible, minimising the need for long escalators and lift connections.
Kokkinen and Louko promise that the
continuation stretch will offer a memorable
experience that will transcend the basic need