New Children’s Hospital
Helsinki, 2018
The New Children’s Hospital is a shining example of a challenging project in which open cooperation, careful planning and collaboration to identify the right solutions helped to achieve tight targets. High-quality design and construction have ensured the completion of the world’s best hospital for children and their carers.
Main contractor: SRV
Developer: KOY Uusi Lastensairaala
Building consultant: Haahtela-rakennuttaminen Oy
Tenant: Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District
Contract form: Cooperative project management contract
Architecture: SARC Architects and Arkkitehtiryhmä Reino Koivula
HVAC subsidiary contractor: Saipu
Electricity subsidiary contractor: Amplit
Project
Volume: 230,000 m3
Total area: 48,000 m2
8 floors above ground
1 basement
1 floor of machinery space
2,069 rooms
12 operating theatres
16 intensive care units
118 patient rooms
220 consulting or rehabilitation areas
Site
45,000 m3 of blasted rock
27,000 m3 of cast concrete
2.8 million kilograms of reinforced concrete installed
1,300 km of electricity and telecommunication cables
3,600 employees during construction
1,400,000 hours of work done
Special features
- The New Children’s Hospital was a unique project in the history of Finnish hospital construction. The project got off the ground due to the efforts of donors. The hospital was built in strong collaboration between the developer, tenants, designers and contractors. The project was technically challenging in many ways, and work began with designs that had only advanced to an exceptionally low degree of completion.
- Construction of the New Children’s Hospital was completed in April 2018, and the hospital was handed over the tenant, the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District, two months ahead of the original schedule for completion. The hospital opened its doors in mid-September, and it replaced the outdated premises used by the old Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Castle.
- The frame erection method chosen for the hospital combined cast-in-situ and prefabricated structures, enabled the frame to be erected quickly. The frame was made to be adaptable so that the premises can be altered to cater for future needs.
- Moisture and cleanliness management were major focuses during construction. The cleanest materials and an easy-drying grade of concrete were chosen as construction materials. The rapid completion of the frame, combined with the structural solution selected for the facade, enabled interior work to begin early in dry conditions. A Terve Talo (“healthy house”) consultant also worked on the project, and the drying of all the floor structures was inspected by a third party before the floor surfaces were installed.
- The final phase of construction involved close collaboration to promote commissioning by means such as overlapping the installation of fixed hospital equipment with construction. During construction, more than 1,000 representatives of the client visited the site to familiarise and orientate themselves with the new premises.
- The New Children’s Hospital is an architectonically stunning building, receiving the 2018 Finlandia Prize for Architecture for its positive, undaunted architecture in harmony with its surroundings. The New Children’s Hospital was also named the 2018 Project of the Year by the Project Management Association Finland. The panel of judges praised the fact that the project was safely completed on schedule and remained within the budget, while comfortably surpassing all of the quality criteria.