15 03 2021

PES-Architects' design selected for City of Vantaa’s new hybrid office building

PES-Architects’ proposal “Koralli” was selected for the new hybrid building complex to be built in central Tikkurila for the City of Vantaa.  PES-Architects is the principal designer in the project, which will be implemented as a turnkey project by Lehto Tilat Oy, a subsidiary of Lehto Group. We’re responsible for the overall architectural design as well as workplace environment design.

The unique hybrid complex will be part of the vibrant new heart of Vantaa, containing a mixed-use office building for VTK Kiinteistöt Oy (a real estate company owned by the City of Vantaa) with commercial premises on the ground floor and three floors of offices and other premises for the City’s use, as well as an underground car park. These will be topped by three four-storey blocks of flats for Lehto. The gross area of the office building is about 23,000 m² and the floor area of the residential component is about 6,000 m².

The name “Koralli” (coral) refers to the versatile and flexible form and functions of the complex. The building mass is divided into smaller blocks like a partly open, partly closed chest of drawers, forming green terraces and natural overhangs to shield the offices from the sun. The building steps down towards the City Hall, creating a human-scale square in a continuation of the existing urban squares, integrating into and interacting with the surrounding urban environment.

The building’s design allows for great flexibility and adaptability. The aim is create a modern and functional work environment for the City and encourage encounters between the building’s users and visitors through shared, multipurpose spaces.

The carbon footprint of the complex is planned to be up to 55% lower than in an average new build. The highest green building certification LEED Platinum will be sought.

The builder-designer team for the project was selected through a public procurement negotiated procedure.

25 11 2020

Steel Structure of the Year 2020 award to Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre

The Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre has been granted the 2020 Steel Structure of the Year award by the Finnish Constructional Steelwork Association. The 153,000 m2 Strait Culture and Art Centre was completed in Fuzhou, China in 2018 based on PES-Architects’ winning proposal in an invited competition in 2014. The cultural complex comprises five separate buildings – an opera house, concert hall, multi-functional theatre, art exhibition hall and cinema centre – linked by curved galleries following the form of the facades.

The jury particularly commended the insightful use of steel structures, which was the aspect of the project where Finnish specialist design was the most critical for a successful outcome. The curved interior galleries feature tall glazed walls shaded by a double facade formed of ceramic louvres, supported by a complex steel structure. The different materials used in the project – steel, concrete, glass, and local ceramics and bamboo – form a unified whole. The design was achieved through parametric modelling and close collaboration between the different design teams, with Matti Haaramo of Vahanen Group as PES-Architects’ subconsultant for the steel structural design.

“The award is a valuable recognition of our long-term work in China, which we also see as the export of Finnish expertise in architectural design and structural engineering, among other specialist fields. I am particularly happy to share the award with Matti Haaramo, who has been my trusted structural engineering consultant in all the international projects I have designed in the last 25 years, including several in China,” says Professor Pekka Salminen, PES-Architects founding partner and chief designer of the Strait Culture and Art Centre. “Big thanks also go to our design teams in Helsinki and Shanghai – it takes a highly skilled and seasoned team to successfully pull through such a large and demanding project in a very tight schedule.”

The Finnish Steel Structure of the Year award (Vuoden teräsrakenne) is a prestigious recognition granted annually to a project that combines high-quality architectural design with the particularly innovative and skilful use of steel. The selection is made by an independent jury. The award was bestowed to Pekka Salminen and Matti Haaramo on 24 November 2020 at the annual Constructional Steelwork Day in Helsinki.

In 2019, the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre received the equivalent China Steel Structure Gold Award of the China Steel Construction Society.

"The award was bestowed to Pekka Salminen and Matti Haaramo on 24 November 2020 at the annual Constructional Steelwork Day in Helsinki. The award also goes to the main contractor China State Construction Engineering Co. Ltd, steel structure contractor Jiangsu Huning Steel Mechanism Co. Ltd, and the client, Fuzhou New Town Development Investment Group Co., Ltd. Our local partner was CCEDGC Co. Ltd./Xu Zongwu."

02 09 2020

Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre selected for the Finnish Architecture – Biennial Review 2020

The Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre has been selected for the Finnish Architecture – Biennial Review 2020. The Biennial Review presents top achievements in contemporary Finnish architecture in the form of an exhibition organised every two years. This year’s Biennial Review selection includes 15 projects characterised by creative and high-quality architecture, a well thought-out relationship with the surroundings, functionality and ecological and sustainable criteria.

PES-Architects' Strait Culture and Art Centre, completed in Fuzhou, China in 2018, is the only project in the review selection to be located outside of Finland. The 153,000 sqm complex on the Minjiang River consists of five petal-shaped venues – an opera house, concert hall, multi-functional theatre, art exhibition hall and cinema centre – linked by a cultural concourse and large roof terrace. Ceramic is used as the project’s main material due to its cultural and historical significance.

The Finnish Architecture – Biennial Review is organised jointly by the Museum of Finnish Architecture, the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA and the Alvar Aalto Foundation. The review exhibition will be open at the Museum of Finnish Architecture from 4 September 2020 to 28 February 2021 and is accompanied by a publication.

05 08 2020

PES-Architects wins Architizer A+Award for West Terminal 2

West Terminal 2 at the Port of Helsinki was selected as the Jury Winner in the 2020 Architizer A+Awards in the Transportation - Transport Interiors category.

West Terminal 2 serves the fast ferry traffic across the Gulf of Finland on the Helsinki-Tallinn route, one of the busiest in Europe. Several million passengers a year pass through the terminal, which was designed for maximum efficiency, safety and comfort. The spacious departure lounge is characterised by tall glass walls towards the sea and a timber ceiling rising up to a height of nine metres.

Architizer is the world’s leading online platform for architecture and building-products. The Architizer A+Awards is the largest awards program focused on promoting and celebrating the year’s best architecture and products, with over 5,000 entries from 100+ countries this year.

See all the winners at: Read more

15 06 2020

PES-Architects joins Architects Declare Finland

PES-Architects is proud to be one of the 17 founding signatories of Architects Declare Finland, the Finnish chapter of the global  'Architects Declare Climate and Biodiversity Emergency'.  The twin crises of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss are the most serious issue of our time. Buildings and construction play a major part, accounting for nearly 40% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions while also having a significant impact on our natural habitats.

For everyone working in the construction industry, meeting the needs of our society without breaching the earth’s ecological boundaries will demand a paradigm shift in our behaviour. Together with our clients, we will need to commission and design buildings, cities and infrastructures as indivisible components of a larger, constantly regenerating and self-sustaining system. We are committing to strengthen our working practices to create architecture and urbanism that has a more positive impact on the world around us.

The Finnish Architects Declare online launch event was held on 12 June 2020. Further joint and individual actions of the studios involved will follow later this year.

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23 04 2020

Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre a Platinum Winner in the Outstanding Property Awards London (OPAL)

The Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre has been awarded as a Platinum Winner in the Outstanding Property Awards London (OPAL) 2019 in the Architectural Design category.

OPAL seeks the best Architecture, Interior Design and Property Development projects from around the world, celebrating and honouring diverse exceptional projects globally. According to OPAL co-founder Jesper Thomsen, the objective of the OPAL Awards is to reveal projects that are not only highly creative but show useful function, provide better a living experience for the users and meet the clients’ expectations.

Projects were anonymously peer-reviewed by the distinguished OPAL jury panel comprised of international industry experts, rating each project according to its individual merits based on creativity, form and function. The final winners were chosen based on the overall score of all the Jury votes.

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07 02 2020

PES-Architects invited to competition for wooden office and hotel building on Helsinki waterfront

PES-Architects has been invited to participate in the architectural competition for the new Stora Enso headqurters in Helsinki in a property owned by Varma pension company. A total of six internationally established architectural firms with experience in wood construction were invited to take part from Finland, the other Nordic countries and Japan.

The competition involves the design of an office and hotel building in a valuable waterfront location in Katajanokka, in the heart of Helsinki, a short distance from the Market Square, City Hall and Presidential Palace. The objective is to create high-quality and sustainable new premises for Stora Enso as well as other businesses and service providers, including a hotel. The outdoor premises will extend the public shoreline a shared urban space for residents and visitors.

"We're honoured and excited to participate in this competition. It's a unique opportunity to design a future-looking business property on a prime historic waterfront location in our home city of Helsinki," says Tuomas Silvennoinen, Design Director at PES-Architects.

  The building is to be mainly built of wood, using Stora Enso’s new wood-structure system, with ambitious sustainability goals including carbon neutrality and LEED Platinum certification. The amount of lettable space will be approximately 16,000 square metres in total.

  The competition is arranged according to the rules of the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA, with a jury including representatives from Varma, Stora Enso, SAFA and the City of Helsinki. The competition entries will be published in May 2020 and the result will be announced in late June.

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05 12 2019

PES-Architects receives shared third prize in Uusi Kansallinen architecture competition

PES-Architects received shared third prize in the Uusi Kansallinen architecture competition for an Annex to the National Museum of Finland in Helsinki.

The prize was awarded to our entry Kolme pihaa (”three courtyards”). Our design seeks to harmonise the structure and use of the existing exterior spaces of the National Museum. The subtle glass parabola-shaped pavilion frames three distinctive courtyards around the main building, underlining their individual identities.

In its assessment, the jury described the shaping of the building as confident and stylish. The entry introduces a new, sensitive architectural concept alongside the National Museum. The wing-like, light building mass outlines the courtyard areas with a sophisticated touch and enables the courtyard park to be used in multiple and flexible ways.

Uusi Kansallinen (the ”New National”) was a two-stage, open ideas architecture competition for the design of an Annex to the National Museum of Finland in Helsinki. The competition was jointly organized by the Finnish Heritage Agency, the National Museum of Finland and Senate Properties. A total of 185 entries were submitted, out of which five finalists were chosen for further development.

PES-Architects’ proposal was designed by Pekka Salminen, Jyri Eskola and Jaewoo Chon together with Inaki Zuazo, Jianqiang Lin and Richard Leung.

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05 12 2019

PES-Architects receives shared third prize in Uusi Kansallinen architecture competition

PES-Architects received shared third prize in the Uusi Kansallinen architecture competition for an Annex to the National Museum of Finland in Helsinki.

The prize was awarded to our entry Kolme pihaa (”three courtyards”). Our design seeks to harmonise the structure and use of the existing exterior spaces of the National Museum. The subtle glass parabola-shaped pavilion frames three distinctive courtyards around the main building, underlining their individual identities.

In its assessment, the jury described the shaping of the building as confident and stylish. The entry introduces a new, sensitive architectural concept alongside the National Museum. The wing-like, light building mass outlines the courtyard areas with a sophisticated touch and enables the courtyard park to be used in multiple and flexible ways.

Uusi Kansallinen (the ”New National”) was a two-stage, open ideas architecture competition for the design of an Annex to the National Museum of Finland in Helsinki. The competition was jointly organized by the Finnish Heritage Agency, the National Museum of Finland and Senate Properties. A total of 185 entries were submitted, out of which five finalists were chosen for further development.

PES-Architects’ proposal was designed by Pekka Salminen, Jyri Eskola and Jaewoo Chon together with Inaki Zuazo, Jianqiang Lin and Richard Leung.

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02 12 2019

Pekka Salminen awarded with the Bene Merentibus Medal by the Association of Polish Architects

Architect, Professor Pekka Salminen, founding partner of PES-Architects, was awarded the Bene Merentibus Medal by the Association of Polish Architects (SARP) on 29 November 2019 in Warsaw. The Medal was presented in connection with SARP’s annual gala by Mariusz Ścisło, President of SARP.

Pekka Salminen received the prestigious Bene Merentibus Medal for his merits in European and world architecture as well as support for the development and promotion of Polish architecture, including many years of cooperation with the Association of Polish Architects.

Pekka Salminen is recognized for his work on complex public and cultural buildings in Finland and abroad. Salminen has had an international approach to architecture from the start, actively seeking collaboration with foreign architects and participating in international competitions and architectural events.

“I am deeply honoured to receive this distinction from the Association of Polish Architects,” says Pekka Salminen. “Poland could be called my first ‘architectural home country’ outside Finland. The international architectural collaboration that began for me in Poland later continued to expand to Germany, Croatia and, most recently, China.”

In all these countries, Pekka Salminen and his office have established local offices and collaboration and promoted their vision of the basic characteristics of Finnish architecture: user orientation, reasonableness, affinity with nature and sustainability. These systematic efforts have resulted in Pekka Salminen’s main works abroad: the Marienkirche concert church in Neubrandenburg, Germany, and the Wuxi Grand Theatre and Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre (SCAC ) in China.

Pekka Salminen’s ties to Poland date back to 1978, when his team participated in the Warsaw Confrontations competition. At this time, he met awarded Polish architect Romuald Loegler, who would become a lifelong collaborator and personal friend. A major joint project was the invited competition for the Kronprinzenbrücke memorial bridge for the reunification of Germany in Berlin in 1991, where they won third prize. They have continued to work on competitions together and are planning a joint exhibition in 2020.

As Marta A. Urbańska, Plenipotentiary of the SARP Main Board for Cultural Heritage, noted in her laudatory speech, Salminen’s role was particularly significant for Polish architecture in the 1980s in a country then behind the Iron Curtain, when his professional connections and standing helped Polish architects to establish links to the world. Salminen also sponsored or employed numerous young Polish architects and students during their studies or internships in Finland.

Salminen’s activities in Poland have been many. He acted as juror of the International Biennale of Architecture in Krakow soon after its establishment, contributing significantly to the promotion of the event. He has co-organised a sports architecture workshop, served in the competition jury for the Museum of Architecture extension in Wrocław, and lectured at events including the BUDMA International Construction and Architecture Fair.

The SARP Bene Merentibus Medal was established by the Association of Polish Architects in 1996 as a recognition to persons or institutions particularly distinguished for services to Polish architecture in a broad sense. The recipients – which have included names such as architectural historian and critic Joseph Rykwert, film director Andrzej Wajda and composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki – represent a wide range of cultural and social spheres. Pekka Salminen is one of the few non-Polish recipients of the distinction.

In connection with the visit, Pekka Salminen gave a public lecture entitled “The Art of Material” on 28 November at the SARP exhibition pavilion in Zamoyski Palace, Warsaw.

27 10 2019

PES-Architects awarded with WIN and WAN Awards for the architecture and interior design of Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre

PES-Architects has won the Gold Award for the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre (SCAC) in the World Interiors News WIN Awards 2019 category for Cinemas, Theatres and Music Venues. The opera hall received a Bronze Award and the concert hall was a finalist in the Cultural Venues Category.

A Silver Award was received in the World Architecture News WAN Awards 2019 in the Façade category, rounded off with a Bronze in the Waterfront category.

The awards were announced at the WIN WAN Live event in London on 24 October.

“We’re delighted to receive these awards as a recognition for our achievement in creating a cultural centre that can be used widely for different purposes throughout the day," says Professor Pekka Salminen, chief designer of the project. "We also put great effort into using a historically and culturally significant Chinese material, ceramic, as extensively as possible on both exterior and interior surfaces.”

The complex houses an opera house, concert hall, multifunctional theatre, cinema centre and exhibition hall located in separate, petal-shaped buildings. A central Concourse Lobby, open all day, connects the venues, providing for flexible use of the public spaces and promoting the growth of local art production. The opera and concert halls are clad with ornamental ceramic tiles designed together with Taiwanese ceramic artist Samuel Hsuan-yu Shih and installed to meet the highest acoustic requirements. Another traditional Chinese material, bamboo, is also used extensively throughout.

The five double-curved main façades are made of 42,250 lens-shaped ceramic louvres, maximizing the shading capacity of the façade and creating a translucent “jasmine white” skin for the building. After dark, the interior bamboo wall creates a deep secondary façade layer behind the white ceramic screen.

Full list of awards:

www.worldinteriorsnewsawards.com/winners-2019/
www.wanawards.com/results-2019/

03 09 2019

Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre shortlisted for several architecture and interior design awards

The Strait Culture and Art Centre (SCAC), located in Fuzhou, China, has been shortlisted for the World Architecture News WAN Awards 2019, the World Interiors News WIN Awards 2019, and the Finnish Metal Facade of the Year award.

The SCAC is shortlisted in two categories for the World Architecture News WAN Awards: 'Facade' and 'Waterfront'. The World Interiors News has shortlisted the SCAC for the WIN Awards in the 'Cinemas, theatres and music venues’ category, and the opera and concert halls are both separately shortlisted in the 'Cultural venues' category.

The WIN and WAN Awards winners will be announced at the WIN WAN Live event in London in October.

In addition, the SCAC was nominated as a finalist for Metal Facade of the Year (Vuoden Metallijulkisivu). This is a newly established prize awarded by the Finnish sheet metal industry to pay tribute to innovation and sustainable constructions with focus on metal facades and roofs. The award ceremony will take place in September at the Plootu19 architecture event as part of Helsinki Design Week.

"We're particularly pleased that the Strait Culture and Art Centre is being recognised for its interiors, facades and waterfront location," says Professor Pekka Salminen, founding partner of PES-Architects and chief designer of the project. "The SCAC will be a focal point of the developing Mawei New Town district, and the cultural centre and its gardens open onto the Minjiang River, providing the community with a public riverside park for recreation even outside events.

"We also put great effort into using a historically and culturally significant Chinese material, ceramic, as extensively as possible on both the exterior and interiors of the buildings. The facades are clad with white ceramic tiles and louvres, and the opera and concert halls are clad with ornamental ceramic tiles custom-designed and installed to meet the highest acoustic requirements."

The curved, sloping roofs of the buildings are of prepatinated zinc. They are seen to form an equal part of the facades and were designed with as great attention to detail to fit into the overall architecture.

About the awards:

www.wanawards.com www.worldinteriorsnewsawards.com www.plootu19.fi

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25 05 2019

Architizer A+ Awards 2019 Special Mentions to Strait Culture and Art Centre and Icon Yunduan Tower

Two of our projects in China have been awarded with a Special Mention in the Architizer A+ Awards 2019: the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre in the Cultural-Hall / Theater category and the Icon Yunduan Tower in the Commercial-Office - High Rise (16+ Floors) category.

The Architizer A+Awards is the largest awards program focused on promoting and celebrating the year’s best architecture and products. In recognition of the exceptional quality of submissions received, the jury has acknowledged outstanding entries as Special Mentions, alongside the Finalists and Winners. Out of thousands of entries received from over 100 countries, the Special Mention distinction is awarded to work that exhibits remarkable achievement and scored in the top 5% of entrants.

You can view all the Finalists and Special Mentions at https://awards.architizer.com/finalists/finalists-2019/

25 05 2019

Asia Pacific Property Award for Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre

The Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre was recognised with the Five-Star award as Best Public Service Architecture in China at the 2019-20 Asia Pacific Property Awards held in Bangkok. The project will go on to compete against international winners from other regions for the 'World's Best' title at the end of the year.

The Asia Pacific Property Awards are part of the long-established International Property Awards which celebrate the highest levels of achievement by companies operating in all sectors of the property and real estate industry. The award nominees were judged by an independent panel of over 80 industry experts, with judging focused on design, quality, service, innovation, originality, and commitment to sustainability. The Asia Pacific Property Awards are the largest, most prestigious, and widely recognised programme throughout the regions.

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15 05 2019

Next phase of Helsinki Airport expansion opens: first part of West Pier, new bus station

The latest phase of the Helsinki Airport long-haul terminal expansion has been completed with the opening of the first part of West Pier. The extension features 13,000 square metres of additional space with five new gates for wide-body aircraft, restaurants and a premium lounge. The West Pier continues the design of the previously completed South Pier and Aukio expansions with high, open spaces, steel structures and glass walls. Departing and arriving passenger flows are separated onto different levels, with moving walkways for added convenience.

The theme of Finnish nature continues in custom-designed wood details and furnishing. Wall surfaces are decorated with nine-metre-tall wooden reliefs made from Finnish birch. “The three-dimensional surfaces convey the mood of fluttering foliage and traditional wood shingle roofs,” explains chief designer Tuomas Silvennoinen. Large luminaires made from translucent plywood hang from the ceiling in undulating cloud-like forms, and even the charging stations for mobile devices are shaped into trees. The fixed furniture and luminaires are designed by Kai Lindvall of our interior design team. The second phase of the West Pier, including expanded baggage handling facilities, will be completed at the end of the year.

A new bus station has also been opened in front of Terminal 2 with bus platforms and a waiting area for invalid taxis. An escalator will be completed by the end of June to provide easy access from the bus station directly to the Terminal 2 check-in level.

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26 04 2019

Tuomas Silvennoinen named Glass Builder of the Year 2019

PES-Architects partner and Design Director Tuomas Silvennoinen has been awarded as Glass Builder of the Year 2019 by the Finnish Flat Glass Association for his versatile use of glass in architecture throughout his career. According to the jury, Tuomas Silvennoinen has made an important contribution to the use of glass in architecture by designing a range of prominent buildings where glass structures play a key role on both facades and in interiors.

Silvennoinen works in close collaboration with industry experts to ensure the functionality of the glass structures for each individual project, including considerations such as noise insulation, solar protection and safety.

The jury cites West Terminal 2 in the Port of Helsinki (2017) as an excellent example of glass construction, where the design combines a sense of openness and light to create a pleasant passenger experience. Silvennoinen’s main international work, the Icon Yunduan Tower (2017) in Chengdu, China, also features wide glass facades. The same high quality and large-scale use of glass continues in the ongoing non-Schengen expansion of Helsinki Airport, where the award ceremony was held at the recently completed Aukio plaza.

“I’m grateful and honoured to receive the Glass Builder award. The value of using glass is obvious here at the airport: it allows passengers a view outdoors and to the runway, as well as making it easy and safe for them to navigate inside the terminal,” says Tuomas Silvennoinen.

The Finnish Flat Glass Association bestows the Glass Builder of the Year award in alternate years with the Glass Structure award to honour individuals and buildings that promote excellence in glass construction.

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08 02 2019

New central plaza Aukio opens at Helsinki Airport for long-haul passengers

The heart of Helsinki Airport’s terminal expansion for non-Schengen and long-haul flights, called Aukio (plaza), opened this week. The new area is located at the intersection of the current terminal and the new gate area extensions, the South Pier (completed in 2017) and the West Pier (to be completed in phases this year). A particular focus is on the needs of transit passengers on flights between Europe and Asia.

Aukio will give arriving and transit passengers their first or even only impression of Finland: state-of-the-art technology and an experience of Finnish nature. "Although terminals everywhere must meet the same basic technical and functional requirements, this terminal also seeks to convey the message that Finland is a highly technologically advanced nation with an exceptionally close relationship with nature," says chief designer Tuomas Silvennoinen of PES-Architects.

The security control area for transfer passengers features a high glass wall, granite floor and birch veneer ceiling. Wood details and other references to Finnish nature are used throughout. Advanced security solutions and passenger services ensure a safe, smooth and comfortable user experience.

The core of the new area is the double-height central plaza, designed as an oasis of calm and refreshment for weary travellers. The triangular space is encircled by a 75-metre-long and 2 metre-high LED screen displaying a changing Finnish landscape in different seasons. The immersive experience is enhanced by lighting and sound effects and the birch-panelled walls act as an interactive touch screen. The installation is a collaborative effort by OiOi Collective with Granlund Oy, based on a concept by Davidsson Tarkela Architects and Rune & Berg Design Oy.

Photo Pasi Salminen / Finavia

28 01 2019

Helsinki central health and well-being centre project plan moving ahead

The health and well-being centre planned to be built over the existing Kamppi metro station in central Helsinki has been green-lighted by the City of Helsinki Social Services and Health Care Committee and will next be circulated for comments. The 14,000 m2 health and well-being centre would be a large centralised unit modelled according to the city’s new social services and health care service network plan. If realised, construction would start in 2022 at the earliest, with the building due for completion by early 2026. The estimated construction costs are EUR 74 million.

The new health centre building, designed by PES-Architects, is set to be a modern six-storey service centre of an architecturally high standard. The ground level will house the metro station and ticket hall as well as commercial premises to enliven the streetscape. Some health centre functions are also planned to be situated in the adjacent office building designed by Alvar Aalto (known as Sähkötalo, or Electricity Building).

Even at this early stage, the project has required exceptionally detailed planning due to the challenging site. The sensitive location of the building in the dense urban fabric on top of the existing metro station and in a prominent place between two architecturally significant buildings has also required close cooperation with the Helsinki City Planning Department. PES-Architects has been involved in planning the central health and well-being centre from the earliest needs assessment phase.

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07 11 2018

West Terminal 2 nominated for European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2019

We are honoured that West Terminal 2 has been nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2019! The biannual prize is organised by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe and supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission. Its main goal is to acknowledge and reward quality architectural production in Europe

West Terminal 2 was completed in 2017 in Helsinki West Harbour to provide better facilities for the growing volume of ferry traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn and as a landmark for the developing urban district of Jätkäsaari. The terminal has received numerous Finnish and international awards and recognitions, most recently the German Design Award and ICONIC AWARDS: Innovative Architecture Winner award.

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27 10 2018

West Terminal 2 wins German Design Award 2019

The West Terminal 2 ferry terminal in Helsinki has received another prestigious architecture award as Winner of the German Design Awards 2019. The awards will be presented at the awards ceremony in Frankfurt in February 2019.

Completed in 2017, West Terminal 2 was designed to serve the increasing volume of ferry traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia, as well as creating a new landmark for the developing urban district of Jätkäsaari. West Terminal 2 has received a number of Finnish and international awards and recognitions, and was selected for the Finnish Architecture Biennial Review 2018, showcasing the best of Finnish architecture in 2015-2017.

From the German Design Awards international jury: "What makes this design compelling is its open, generously proportioned design that’s also agreeably light and congenial. An elegant modern structure that evokes an airport terminal and that promises to be an equally pleasant place to spend time in."

The German Design Awards are a premier international prize awarded through a nomination process by the German Design Council, the authorative body for branding and design in Germany. Its goal is to discover, present, and honour unique trends in design. Awards are granted to projects that blaze new trails in the international design landscape.

12 10 2018

PES-Architects wins competition for Turku Railyard (Turun ratapiha) development project

PES-Architects' proposal Luoto (islet, skerry) has won the invited competition for an overall concept to develop the railyard area in the city of Turku on the southwest coast of Finland. The objective of the competition was to find a comprehensive plan that would complement the city structure as well as being realistic in terms of transport and costs and of high functional and architectural quality. The mainly privately financed complex is set to become a nationally and internationally attractive cluster of business, leisure, housing, events, experiences and sports for the 2020’s.

The focal point of our design is a comprises a central "hill" housing a hotel and sports arena onto which visitors can ascend to enjoy the scenic terraces overlooking the city. There is a water element at the top, reflecting the importance of the River Aura and the archipelago to the city. As a contrast, a horizontal building mass contains an experience centre and offices. Housing is located in angled blocks of various heights around the central buildings.

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11 10 2018

Strait Culture and Art Centre opens in Fuzhou, China

The Strait Culture and Art Centre (SCAC) in Fuzhou, China, was opened to the public on 10 October 2018. The opening concert featured the China Philharmonic Orchestra, with distinguished guests including Finland's Ambassador to China, Jarno Syrjälä.

The 153,000 m2 hybrid cultural complex is our seventh project completed in China. Its five buildings and connecting terraces and underground levels contain an opera house, concert hall, multifunctional theatre, art exhibition hall and cinema centre alongside various commercial and leisure services. The design of the white, ceramic-clad buildings evokes sails as well as the petals of a jasmine blossom, the city flower of Fuzhou.

The building complex was our winning proposal in an international invited competition hosted by the Fuzhou Government in 2013.

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11 10 2018

ICONIC AWARDS 2018: Innovative Architecture Winner award to West Terminal 2

West Terminal 2, Port of Helsinki, was awarded as an ICONIC AWARDS 2018: Innovative Architecture Winner at the awards ceremony on 8 October 2018 at the Pinakothek der Moderne gallery in Munich. The award, published in August, was accepted by architects Tuomas Silvennoinen (chief designer), Pekka Mäkelä, Hanna Eskelinen and Emanuel Lopes of PES-Architects.

The ICONIC AWARDS: Innovative Architecture is an international architecture and design competition that focuses on the interaction between the different disciplines. Awards are given to visionary buildings, innovative products and sustainable communication in all sectors of architecture, the construction and real estate business and the manufacturing industries.

The ICONIC AWARDS are granted by the German Design Council, one of the world’s leading competence centres for communication and knowledge transfer in design.

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02 10 2018

Pekka Salminen awarded with the 2018 World Green Design International Contribution Award

Professor, architect Pekka Salminen, founding partner of PES-Architects, was awarded with the 2018 World Green Design International Contribution Award (Individual) at the 2018 World Green Design Forum Brussels Summit on 27 September 2018. The award was conferred by the World Green Design Organization (WGDO) at the Award Ceremony held at the European Parliament in Brussels. The theme of the Summit was "Green Design Facilitates Global Green Development". The awards honour professional individuals and organisations that have made outstanding contributions to the human living environment through green design or the promotion of energy saving and the circulation economy.

Pekka Salminen and PES-Architects have worked actively in China for 15 years. In all competitions and realized projects, Salminen's leading principle has been sustainable design in the form of functionality and seeking new ways of using ecological materials. Main examples include:

- Wuxi Grand Theatre 2008-2012: For the first time in the world, a truly Chinese ecological material, a new type of technical bamboo, was used on a large scale.
- Strait Culture and Art Centre 2014-2018: Chinese ecological China White ceramics was used on a very large scale as a new type of exterior material and acoustic interior material.
- Nanjing Sino-Finnish Centre 2018-2021: Together with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, PES-Architects has developed the solar façade idea, based on printed organic decorative solar cells. The Sino-Finnish Centre will serve as a pilot project for the Nanjing Southern New Eco-Town.

The World Green Design Organization (WGDO) was founded in Brussels, Belgium, in 2013 as the first non-profit international organization to promote the development of green design throughout the world. The World Green Design Contribution Awards were now conferred for the eight time. Previous Finnish winners of the award include Jussi Pesonen (2014) and Eero Paloheimo (2013).

Read more at www.wgdo.net

15 09 2018

NANJING SINO-FINNISH CENTRE moving forwards

PES-Architects Shanghai office General Manager Ms.Lailinli and Nanjing South New Town Development Group Deputy General Manager Mr Yu Xin signed a design contract for the Sino-Finnish Co-operation and Exchange Centre in Nanjing on 14 September 2018. The Finnish Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing, Mr. Kimmo Tiilikainen, also took part in the signing ceremony on his visit to Nanjing. The construction of the project is scheduled to begin by spring 2019.

The Nanjing Sino-Finnish Co-operation and Exchange Centre international architecture competition was organised in 2016 by the Nanjing Southern New Town management committee with support from the Embassy of Finland in China and Finpro. The competition was exceptional for China in that all the competitors were Finnish architects’ offices. The background of the competition traces back to a collaboration agreement between Finland and China, agreed between the the President of Finland, Mr. Sauli Niinistö, and President of China, Mr. Xi Jinping, in 2016.

PES-Architects' winning design is a metaphor of the massive ice blocks that form on frozen Finnish lakes and sea in winter. The project is a 210,000 m2 hybrid development, incorporating a hotel, offices, commercial, exhibition and multipurpose spaces, and will serve as the focal point for the residents of Nanjing Southern New Town. The project façade concept follows the project metaphor of frozen ice. The glass sheets of the undulating double skin façade are patterned with a printed solar-collecting ice crystal design. This façade, designed in collaboration with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, is based on printed organic solar cells. The functional facade will not only be a pilot project architecturally, but more so philosophically, as it suggests a future where solar energy can be collected from all kinds of surfaces.

The Sino-Finnish Centre in Nanjing received The Architectural Review Future Project Innovation Award 2017.

Read more

06 08 2018

West Terminal 2 awarded as Winner of ICONIC AWARDS 2018: Innovative Architecture

The West Terminal 2 ferry terminal in Helsinki receives yet another recognition as a Winner in the ICONIC AWARDS 2018: Innovative Architecture competition.

The ICONIC AWARDS: Innovative Architecture is an international architecture and design competition that factors in the interaction between the various disciplines. Awards are given to visionary buildings, innovative products and sustainable communication in all sectors of architecture, the construction and real estate business and the manufacturing industries. The focus is on holistic production and the interaction between the trades in the context of architecture.

The ICONIC AWARDS are granted by the German Design Council, one of the world’s leading competence centres for communication and knowledge transfer in design.

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07 07 2018

West Terminal 2 nominated for German Design Award 2019

We are pleased to share that West Terminal 2 has been nominated for the German Design Award 2019. The new ferry terminal in Helsinki West Harbour was nominated by the German Design Council, the expert for brand and design in Germany. The nominated projects will be assessed by an international expert jury in early August 2018. The German Design Award seeks to discover, present, and honour unique trends in design. Awards are granted to projects that represent pioneering contributions to the German and international design landscape.

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29 06 2018

West Terminal 2 and Ring Rail Line Airport station featured in Finnish Architecture Review 2018

Two of PES-Architects’ projects have been selected for the Finnish biennial architectural review 2018 : the West Terminal 2 ferry terminal in Helsinki and the Ring Rail Line underground train station at Helsinki Airport in Vantaa.
West Terminal 2, completed in 2017, is a ferry terminal serving the busy passenger traffic between Helsinki, Finland, and Tallinn, Estonia. According to the jury, “Terminal buildings can often be considered “non-places”. However, in this case the architecture enhances the transition, the movement between different modes of transportation from land to water or from water to land. What is interesting is how the architectural form and space enhance this dynamic function of the building. This is visible both from the outside, seen already from far away, but also as an experience when inside the building. The new West Terminal is a completely contemporary interpretation of its typology.”
The underground Airport station of the Ring Rail Line, completed in 2015, connects the airport to the centre of Helsinki . In the jury’s words, “The best airport experience offers a coherent sequence of transportation episodes that cover the whole journey spanning from home base to the aeroplane speeding down the runway. The Helsinki Airport Railway Station fulfils expectations as the pinnacle of the rail journey and the overture – as well as the final cadence – to the flight. The architecture relies on the impacts of the electrifying sensation of arrival and the scale of the episode that spans from the underground platforms to the ground-level entrance points.”
Finland’s biennial architectural review presents a selection of 16 recent projects showcasing new trends and high standards of excellence in Finnish architecture. The review is organised by the Museum of Finnish Architecture, the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA and the Alvar Aalto Foundation. The selections were made by a jury chaired by Portuguese architect Gonçalo Byrne. The review exhibition is open at the Museum of Finnish Architecture from 1 June to 16 September 2018. Read the full review catalogue here.

17 05 2018

PES-Architects at Open House Helsinki on 18 May

As part of the programme for our Helsinki-Shanghai exhibitionat the Museum of Finnish Architecture, our office will participate in the annual Open House Helsinki event with guided tours of two projects featured at the exhibition, the West Terminal 2 ferry terminal and the Ring Rail Line Airport train station , as well as our Marjaniemi office and studio. The tours will be led by the chief architect from PES-Architects. Welcome!

Details and schedule (in Finnish): Open House Helsinki

04 03 2018

HELSINKI-SHANGHAI – PES-Architects’ exhibition at the Museum of Finnish Architecture

Finland and China come together in PES-Architects’ exhibition at the Museum of Finnish Architecture 7 March–3 June 2018. The exhibition focuses on our major domestic and international projects during the years 2001-2018, when we established our business in China and a new generation took charge of our activities in Finland. We have recreated two studios related to our China story in the museum, where visitors can study the materials, models and designs that go into making complex public buildings such as transport terminals, cultural centres and mixed-use highrises.

The exhibition also celebrates PES-Architects’ 50th anniversary. Rather than a retrospective, however, it is a story of continuity and new openings.

The exhibition catalogue is available in English and Chinese. The book “Wuxi Grand Theatre” will also be published in connection with the exhibition.

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15 02 2018

Third prize in competition for school and community centre in Tuusula, Finland

PES-Architects was awarded third prize in an open architecture competition for a new high school and multipurpose building, Monio, in Tuusula, Finland. Our proposal, Ahjo, suggests a new type of learning environment that combines a variety of learning functions into one functional and interdisciplinary whole. The architecture is based on a rational wood frame matrix: supporting spaces are condensed into compact concrete cores, liberating the remainder of the floor area for flexible reorganisation as needed. The heart of the cubical building mass is formed by a series of multipurpose halls that can be connected or separated to adapt to the needs of the school and its extended community. The three-floor-high building is vertically arranged into landscapes of community, learning and creation. Together, these spaces suggest a novel communal learning environment.

According to the jury, Ahjo is a beautiful, memorable and assertive proposal, where the spaces are arranged into a compact, sympathetic building volume that allows for a high degree of synergy between different users groups.

Ahjo was a joint effort between our Helsinki and Shanghai offices.

Read more (in Finnish)