Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2013 | Page 26

View from Kalasatama Centre to the South.
pleased to notice that the citizens have already embraced the area:
“In the future, we want to promote
this type of grass-roots activity even more,
making sure that everyone has the chance
to enjoy Kalasatama and everything it has
to offer.”

Kruunuvuorenranta:
Neighbourhood of Light
Slightly removed from Kalasatama and Jätkäsaari, there is something equally exciting
in the works, as well. A new seaside district, Kruunuvuorenranta, will be built during the next decade opposite the city centre,
on the eastern shore of Kruunuvuorenselkä
open sea.
This close-to-the-nature residential area will be built in an area to be vacated by oil
tanks – and in fact, the oil tanks have a role
in raising the profile of the neighbourhood.
An art project, using light in an innovative
way – called Silo 468 – has been lighting up
the neighbourhood-to-be for a while now.
Project Director Jari Tirkkonen says
that the light installation provides an ample symbol since the idea is to turn Kruunuvuorenranta into “a neighbourhood of light”.
“For instance, we want to integrate
lighting solutions to buildings in a novel
way and deploy other means, too,” Tirkkonen promises. In addition, the profile of
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the area is very much about the nature – there
are impressive forests here and even the last
remaining nature-state pond in Helsinki.

Smitten by the Sea
It is clear that the location of the district in an
archipelagian seascape – on a peninsula projecting into the sea – is of exceptional beauty. The presence of the sea can be sensed
everywhere and the shore can be reached
by foot in a matter of minutes.
“We envision Kruunuvuorenranta as a
spa area for the metropolitan area, complete
with a great beach,” Tirkkonen says, adding
that in order to make that dream come true,
the beach may well materialise before the
houses themselves. After all, if you’re going to build an area for 15-20 years, it makes
sense to create “social anchors” to make the
neighbourhood better known.
Another interesting feature is the “Canal City” which is being planned for the
southern Koirasaari area:
“We want the architecture and planning to be of especially high quality in the
Canal City. We are looking for a genuine marina-type atmosphere here, with landscape
planning and visual aspects taking top priority,” Tirkkonen says.
One key concern for Kruunuvuorenranta is getting connected to the downtown
Helsinki via a bridge. There are plans to

build a bridge from Kruunuvuorenranta to
Sompasaari via Korkeasaari – and according to initial plans, this would be tram-bicycle-pedestrian bridge only.
“We are looking into the bridge option
and there is an international competition going regarding this subject,” Tirkkonen says,
adding that the bridge project has attracted
some of the very best designers in the world.
“This shows that both Kruunuvuorenranta and Helsinki have plenty of international appeal.”

Pasila: Centre 2.0
Moving inland from the shores, we find
Pasila, the number two traffic hub in the
nation. All the trains stop here and trams
and buses very much congregate in the area, making Pasila – in essence – a second
city centre 3.5 kilometres removed from the
old city centre. Still, as potent as Pasila already is there are plans to make it much more
impressive: the idea here is to turn Central
Pasila into a new kind of urban centre for
business, service and housing. As the State
owns the land in the area, the development
is very much a joint project between Senate
Properties and the City of Helsinki.
At present, Central Pasila is being
dominated by the railway and rail yard. Once
the rail yard has been moved elsewhere, a
great deal of space becomes available and