Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2015 | Page 33

terised by Alvar Aalto’s red-brick architecture. The main entrance to the metro station
will be situated on the west side of Otaniementie, opposite Aalto University’s main
building, which will be immediately visible upon leaving the station.
The metro will connect Aalto University’s main campus to the Helsinki campus
with a metro ride of about 11 minutes which
is good news for the students – and sure to
re-energise the mass transport scene of the
area. According to calculations, the daily
number of passengers at the Aalto metro
station will be around 10,000.

Making Waves
Dubbed as the “innovation university”,
Aalto is the perfect example of the type
of collaboration between business, hi-tech
and design that the Innovation Triangle is
all about.
Established in 2010, the Aalto University was created from the merger of three
Finnish universities: The Helsinki School of
Economics, Helsinki University of Technology and The University of Art and Design
Helsinki. With engineering students as the
anchor at Otaniemi, also the design and business students are joining them on the transformed campus grounds.
In October 2013, a winner was declared
in the open international architectural
design competition Campus 2015 which
was arranged by Aalto University Properties Ltd. The competition jury selected the

entry ‘Väre’, designed by the Finnish firm
Verstas Architects, as the first prize winner.
According to the jury, this scheme
most successfully solved the challenges and
conflicting demands of the competition –
since the original campus area is designed
by Alvar Aalto himself, not just any proposal
will do for this key area.

Young Voices Heard
In more recent news, the City of Espoo
decided in October 2014 to award the design
of the user experience at the Aalto metro station to a team of students on the PdP course
at Aalto University. The aim here is to give
people using the Aalto University station
“an innovative and exhilarating experience”. The team of students on the Product Development Project (PdP) comprises
11 students from different sectors, representing eight nationalities and four continents.
The Aalto University metro station is,
naturally, an important entrance to Otaniemi.
The task set by the City is to create a genuine urban centre at the station and to utilise
innovative solutions in order to promote an
emission-free campus.
Beyond the university campus, lies
the “Silicon Valley of the North”: Otaniemi
is the largest cluster of high technology in
Northern Europe, representing the entire
chain of innovation from education and
research to startup companies and knowledge-intensive service businesses. This
community includes 16,000 hi-tech profes-

sionals working in research organisations
and technology companies. The European
Commission has twice selected Otaniemi
among the most innovative areas in Europe.

Keilaniemi: Still Aiming High
In addition to the metro line, also the covering of Ring Road I with a “green deck” construction will bring the three areas closer to
each other. Within a year or so, Keilaniemi,
Otaniemi and Tapiola will be combined into
a single, strongly developing area where it
is extremely easy to move around. During
the next ten years, about five billion euros
of public and private funds will be invested
in the area.
Turning our attention to Keilaniemi
for a moment, it is easy to see why the area
is the corporate engine for the entire country. High-rise buildings are pretty much the
norm here – with headquarters of such companies as Kone, Fortum and Microsoft in
attendance. The hi-tech corporate neighbourhood is waiting for the metroline to
make the lives of the employees easier, but
the metro extension is expected to spark residential construction as well.
According to the master plan, Keilaniemi
will eventually feature four housing towers
with 27–35 storeys each, reaching as high as
100 metres. The area in question will include
almost 80,000 square metres of residential
building volume, and will add a completely
new element to the area, revitalising also the
shoreline with activities and services.

Photo: SARC Architects

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