Details
The award-winning Kaisa House brought Helsinki University Main Library into the heart of Helsinki city centre. SRV delivered the demanding renovation and new-build project for the University of Helsinki under a project management contract.
SRV built and renovated Kaisa House on Kaisaniemenkatu in central Helsinki. The approximately 30,000-gross-square-metre project transformed an old commercial and parking building into Helsinki University Main Library.
When completed in 2012, Kaisa House became an open place for students, university staff and city residents to study, work and meet. The building also attracted wide attention and praise for both its architecture and its execution.
From department store to university library
The project, delivered under a project management contract, combined renovation and new construction. Building in a dense city-centre block also required careful planning and strong logistics management.
The new section, built on the site of the former department store and its parking facility, was seamlessly connected to the renovated building with a unified façade. Before the renovation and new-build works began, we carried out extensive demolition work on the site.
The result is a building where old and new form one coherent whole. The red-brick façade makes Kaisa House a distinctive part of the Kaisaniemi cityscape. Large windows and light wells inside the building bring a sense of openness to Helsinki University Main Library in the middle of a dense urban block.
Award-winning delivery in the city centre
Kaisa House received the Rakentamisen Ruusu award, the Glass Structure of the Year 2012 award and the Kritiikin Kannukset award from the Finnish Critics’ Association.
The site was also selected among the four best projects in Rakennuslehti’s Construction Site of the Year 2011 competition. The recognition highlighted the architectural and building services design, the use of building information modelling and logistics management in a dense city-centre location.
In addition to its high-quality architectural design, Kaisa House was praised for the quality of its execution and the client’s trust in the original plan. That uncompromising approach brought new, timeless architecture to the heart of Helsinki.
When you build, build wisely
SRV helps you take your project from idea to completion. By listening to our customers, we build spaces where functionality, costs and sustainability are balanced throughout the building’s entire life cycle.