A new office building rising by Kasarmitori square during the autumn

The ceremonial masonry stone was laid today. The new building will replace the previous City of Helsinki Public Works Department by Kasarmitori square.

“The revitalisation of Kaartinkaupunki is one of the major focuses for Helsinki city planning due to its central location, historical surroundings and tourist routes. We are very pleased that the new high quality office building has been designed to sit naturally together with other prime properties on the square”, says Pekka Sauri, Deputy Mayor for Public Works and Environmental Affairs in Helsinki, in his ceremony speech today.

While building amongst houses from different eras in the busy city centre both architectural and construction specific technical solutions have to be adopted in the planning and development of the building.

“In order to find viable solutions we have needed experienced developers, competent builders and most of all, seamless co-operation to reach our goal”, states YIT ‘s CEO Kari Kauniskangas.

The newbuild project has proceeded as planned, the demolition was completed during the summer and the blasting and groundworks have commenced according to schedule, the blasting to be completed already in August-September.

“After the cornerstone is set in the construction, we will start with the basements. The excavation will be 10 metres deep and will consist of two basement floors. The lower basement will consist of a ventilation plant room and a service space, and the other one will be a parking hall”, says Tero Ahonen, YIT´s General Foreman.

“The frame of this office building will be erected in October and the first floor will be seen from the edge of Kasarmitori in November.  The floors will be completed at the pace of one floor per month. In January 2017 we will start installing the façade in natural stone and installing the first floor windows, which means that the façade is a couple of floors behind the completion of the frame”, continues Ahonen.

“All seven floors of the new building will be completed in April and the first tenant is moving in at the end of 2017.”

“The deviant traffic arrangements by the Kasarmitori surroundings remain until the very end of this project. They have functioned smoothly so far”, states Ahonen.

The project will employ 40-50 YIT employees and a large number of contractors and consultants. The project impact on employment is estimated at up to 400 person-years.

Project Info: 

Ahlström Capital, YIT and HGR Property Partners are building a new property by Kasarmitori square in Helsinki CBD. The property will provide business space for up to a thousand employees at the end of 2017. The new building will be completed in the city to replace the former City of Helsinki Public Works Department property and it was designed by architects SARC with Antti-Matti Siikala as chief designer.

The anchor tenant is Roschier, Attorneys Ltd whose approximately 200 employees will move into the new building as soon as it is ready. The development is located across two different building sites. Roschier has its own entrance into the corner of Kasarmikatu and Pohjoinen Makasiinikatu.

The property is built according to the requirements of LEED Platinum certification for green buildings.

Contact Information

YIT Corporation, Hanna Malmivaara, Vice president, Communications, hanna.malmivaara@yit.fi / +358 40 561 6568

YIT Construction Ltd, Timo Lehmus, timo.lehmus@yit.fi / +358 400 409 181

Ahlström Capital, Hans Sohlström, hans.sohlstrom@ahlstromcapital.com/ +358 10 888 4211

HGR Property Partners, Kari Helin, kari.helin@hgrpp.fi / +358 40 579 0570

Image and other background inquiries

HGR Property Partners, Riitta Heikkuri, riitta.heikkuri@hgrpp.fi / +358 40 521 5179

www.kasarmikatu21.fi

You can follow the development of the property on social media:

Facebook.com/kasarmikatu21

Instagram: @Kasarmikatu21

#Kasarmikatu21

YIT creates sustainable cities and better living environment by developing and constructing housing, business premises, infrastructure and entire areas. We focus on providing a first-class customer experience, high quality and continuous development of our diverse expertise. Our operating area covers Finland, Russia, the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. In 2015, our revenue amounted to nearly EUR 1.7 billion, and we employ about 5,300 employees. Our share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.yitgroup.com