Vertical Edge

The perfect marriage of commercial, residential and office excellence is taking shape in Kalasatama, Helsinki’s most exciting new district

SRV is introducing high-rise construction to the shores of Helsinki in a big way. The new Kalasatama District will feature as many as eight towers – all built upon the new shopping center REDI. With residential and office construction in the mix, this powerful new combination promises to be a true national landmark for decades to come.

Already hailed as Finland’s premier Smart City, Kalasatama is an intensely urban neighborhood, located by the sea in the eastern city center of Helsinki. Kalasatama is being developed with an eye for technological solutions and everyday innovation from the point of view of the community. With thousands of residents already in the area, Kalasatama will feature as many as 25,000 residents and 10,000 jobs in by 2040.

SRV has been involved in the evolution of the exciting new district since the very beginning. The company constructed REDI, a 64,000 square meter shopping center, to serve as the commercial anchor for the entire neighborhood. As REDI was built at a significant transport node and at a location above Kalasatama metro station, utilization of public transport is easier than just about anywhere else in Finland.

Build a Foundation

Still, the completion of REDI in 2018 was just a prelude, so to speak: the construction rolls on, with high-rise towers being completed one by one over the coming years. Kalasatama Towers are poised to take highrise living and working in Finland to a totally new level.

The first among these is the residential tower, Majakka, that rises to 134 meters – claiming the honor of being the tallest residential building in Finland upon its completion in late 2019.

“The first residents of Majakka will move in in November,” confirms Sales Director Riikka Lohikoski from SRV.

Majakka is sure to set the bar for ambitious, urban living in Finland. The highreaching residential tower and the shopping center down below form a joint service concept, and the tower’s standard equipment includes, among other things, a smart home automation system. Majakka also holds larger-than-usual common areas with skyhigh clubroom and sauna facilities.

“The residents have been actively involved in designing the over-all service concept and they have opted to create a home with a very strong community feel,” Lohikoski explains.

Maximizing Service

Inspiration for the service concept was sought all the way from Manhattan, with a lobby concierge service introducing new kind of metropolitan flavor to Nordic living. The residents can, for example, easily order online cleaning or call in a hairdresser to their home.

“The idea is to elevate residents’ quality of life by making things as easy as possible,” says Lohikoski.

The second residential tower, Loisto, is already under construction and scheduled for completion by the end of 2021. “Loisto will be a twin to Majakka in most regards, but there are some differences, too. Loisto will, for example, include also guest premises for the short-term stay of the guests of Loisto’s residents,” Lohikoski says.

Business Reach

There is also corporate verticality in the works. Eventually rising to over 100 meters, the 26-story Horizon is probably the most talked about office building in the land right now – even if the actual construction is yet to start. Finland’s tallest office tower is certainly good cause for excitement:

potential tenants since summer and the buzz is considerable,” says Account Director Jenita Kokkoniemi from SRV.

The seaside view alone is a real showstopper, as SRV has learned from Majakka and Loisto. Kokkoniemi says that taking people to see the upper levels of the towers is proving to be a time-consuming effort. “You just can’t take your eyes of the view, so nobody wants to come down very fast,” she laughs.

And it’s not just the scenery, either. The location of Horizon above the Kalasatama metro station ensures excellent connections in all directions: for instance, the railway station is just a few minutes away by metro.

Tower Power

Naturally, Horizon will offer an exceptionally high-quality office environment, with such issues as connectivity and work flow well thought-out in advance. Kokkoniemi believes that especially companies that are highly innovative and strong pioneers in their fields are now hearing the siren call of Horizon.

“Consultancies of various fields – be it engineering, finance or law – would certainly benefit from such a home. Also technology companies and software developers could easily thrive here, and, for example, sales organizations of big consumer brands,” Kokkoniemi says.

Whatever the industry, the future tenants are likely to place a lot of weight on the message that a high-profile office sends to stakeholders. “If you’re looking for connectivity, high performance and really unique surroundings, you’ve come to the right place.”

Also, “packing the house” with forerunners and go-getters is likely to lead to surprising synergies. “When you have networking, international players in one fixed location, that will leave the door open for opportunity,” she says.

Deliver the Total Package

“The secret ‘ace in the hole’ will be an apartment hotel that will, according to plans, take over the floors 5–14. This way the needs of business travelers would be accommodated in a very comprehensive way,” Kokkoniemi comments.

“The negotiations are ongoing for the apartment hotel operator,” she says. Also, a co-working option is in the cards to further boost the total package.

“From floor 15 up, we will have offices – with floor 24 designated for restaurants.” What the “office building of the future” needs now is a construction kickoff. Kokkoniemi says that SRV is looking to start work at the site by summer 2020, if everything goes well.

“The interest level is very high and we’re eager to get started. Once the construction gets going, it will take two years to build Horizon.”