Espoolainstentalo, Espoo

Sugar Mizzy July 4, 2022

In a two-phase competition organized by the Finnish Architects Association, “functional and urban” proposals are sought for a new entity that combines municipal offices, new apartments and a parking area.

The Espoolainstentalo project transforms the central station, which is located in the city center next to the main train station. It enables the transfer of the administrative services of the city of Espoo to the main business area of Espoo.

According to the report: “The purpose of the competition is to find the main architect and designer of the new building of Espoolainestalo and the associated parking spaces, as well as a plan that complements high-level services in terms of architecture and cityscape. and other functions in the center of Espoo and form a high-quality urban environment.

“Espoolainstentalo aims to be the functional and urban structural core of downtown Espoo. The city’s administration and services will be centralized in the area of the office center into a more compact entity than at present, which is surrounded by residential blocks and the green area complex related to the Espoonjoki valley.

Located in the capital region, a short distance from Helsinki, Espoo is the country’s second most populous residential area, home to the main campus of Aalto University and one of Europe’s largest start-up communities, as well as large technology companies such as Nokia, KONE, and weather forecaster Foreca.

The latest competition is a year after the city of Espoo and the Finnish Architects’ Association organized it an earlier competition to rethink existing blocks of biology and marine technology in the Otaniemi area of the settlement.

In 2021, the neighboring city of Helsinki launched an international competition to plan a waterfront cultural area around the new architecture museum. In 2016, the city abandoned the winning plans Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki Architects to the £110 million Guggenheim Museum in nearby South Harbour.

The applicant must have an annual turnover of at least 500,000 euros and previous experience in planning “a significant administrative, office, cultural or hybrid-style new building or a renovation or expansion comparable to new construction, which includes several different functions”.

The four shortlisted teams will each receive €60,000 + VAT to participate in the planning phase of the competition. Concepts are evaluated based on their architectural quality, connection to the surrounding urban structure, originality of the proposed solution and the use of sustainable development methods.

The judges are Aalto University design professor Tuuli Mattelmäki, Mikko Kivinen from the city’s department of urban environment and architect Sarlotta Narjus. Submissions must be in Finnish.

The application deadline is August 19 at 3 p.m. local time.