Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2013 | Page 30

are introduced to the area, in the form of four
architecturally ambitious towers. In addition,
the shoreline will be opened up to the public.
Moving on to Otaniemi, which is home
to “innovation university” Aalto, one can expect to see more good things. Aalto University is concentrating all its major functions
here, with design and business students now
joining the engineer students at the Otaniemi
main campus. Here, all students have easy
access to the metro and are only minutes
away from downtown Helsinki.
According to Louko, the City of Espoo
is actively involved in developing the Aalto
University Campus and working together to
find the best solutions. Topping the thingsto-do list here is a brand new administrative
building – realised in the true spirit of Alvar
Aalto, of course.
“The campus area could also feature a
lot more residential elements, reaching all
the way to the shoreline,” Louko says.
The next stop, Tapiola, is undergoing a
major beauty treatment as the legendary “Garden City” will be returned to its former glory
– with plenty of new innovations in the pipeline, too. The remaking of the community revolves around the extensive renovation effort
of Tapiola Centre. Energised by the metroline, the Tapiola Centre is looking to attract
more customers through better connectivity.

Sports Heaven
After Tapiola, the next stop heading west
is Urheilupuisto station (formerly called
Jousenpuisto Station) which will be situated in Jousenpuisto, on city-owned undeveloped land south of the local tennis halls. The
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station will be characterised by the proximity of the sports park and versatile sporting opportunities ranging from tennis and
floorball halls to an indoor ice-skating ring.
Presently, the surroundings of the station are quite raw, offering a wealth of opportunities for the development and further
construction of the area. The station designs
also allow for construction on top of the metro station, says Matti Kokkinen.
“With residential and business-oriented construction – as well as parking considerations – we’re talking about a rather
tight package of 50,000 square metres of
new construction here,” Kokkinen explains
what’s in the cards for Urheilupuisto.

Shopper’s Delight
Next up: the last stop at Matinkylä. The
dominant feature here is shopping centre
Iso Omena, the fifth biggest shopper’s paradise in the land. Matinkylä station will be
located on the empty lot at the southern end
of the shopping centre.
Since Matinkylä is the end of the line,
it is a crucial feeder traffic hub which is estimated to be used by over 30,000 passengers
daily. In fact, based on passenger forecasts,
it will be the busiest station of the new line.
The block where the station will be located is owned by the City, and is expected
to witness a boom in complementary construction. The plan for the block allows the
placement of commercial services, offices
or even residential buildings. The arrival of
metro is expected to attract both new businesses and residents here.
There’s already a lot going on: NCC

Property Development and Citycon are making a genuine “metro centre” here, conveniently linking the metro station, bus terminal and the shopping centre. Completed in
2015, the metro centre will also offer apartments, a swimming hall and 25,000 square
metres of new retail space that come with
the expansion of Iso Omena.

Identity Comes First
Looking at the string of stations from Lauttasaari to Matinkylä, Kokkinen and Louko
are confident that the stations will deliver a
totally new type of metro experience.
“Each station will have a personality
of its own. We have, for example, hired artists to work on the stations with artist Jaakko Niemelä coordinating the over-all effort,” says Louko.
Each station gets its very own “designated artist” – or two, in some cases. This attitude links rather nicely with the World Design Capital 2012 target of getting more out
of the visual experience. Also, one of the prerequisites for the designers is “instant recognition”: sitting in the train, for example, you
need only to glance at the station you’re on
and know where you are right away.
Obviously the lighting of the stations
plays a big role in the eventual user-experience. Therefore natural light will be exploited whenever possible and lighting solutions are aimed to promote accessibility
and to prevent glare.
The over-all guiding vision here is
“metro station as a meeting place” – but
how this objective is reached, depends a lot
on the nature – the spirit – of the station.