months, the City Council said that the hotel – with 113 meters – was too high.
Sweet Sixteen
The setback was not fatal, however, as Buchardt learned that the existing City Plan would allow for a construction of a 16-storey building. Davidsson went to work to revise
16 Nordicum the designs and finally the project received the much-awaited green light.
“ We finally broke ground on the site on June 17, 2014,” Buchardt says.
With Clarion Hotel Helsinki finally opening its doors on October 17th, 2016, it is easy to agree with Mayor Pajunen who called the hotel a“ city landmark” which will, for its part, set the tone for the further developments in the growing Jätkäsaari District. Contributing not one, but two prominent towers to the Helsinki Skyline, the hotel also encompasses a conference centre with an unusual backstory: the building was designed by famous architect Lars Sonck in the 1930’ s and was an important part of the puzzle here:
“ In all my hotel projects, I like to