Due to its suburban location, we aimed to design the architecture of the Etuniementie housing community in such a way that residents would feel removed from the busy streets around it and instead connected to the nature and prevalent greenery of the site.
This led to the development of a modern village atmosphere that could serve as a green pocket for its residents. For them to feel comfortable and encouraged to spend time outdoors on foot, we centered all the parking to the middle of the plot and focused on enhancing the quality of the pedestrian corridors throughout. These passageways in between the homes were an opportunity we felt could provide not only a unique visual identity to Etuniementie, but also at the same time shape a more human-scale environment for the community. When following the paved passageway from the parking to each house, the series of spaces gradually transition from semi-public to a semi-private before becoming completely private.
The first phase of the extension of the metropolitan area subway connects Ruoholahti, Helsinki and Matinkylä, Espoo. Upon completion, in late 2017, the West Metro will service over 100,000 passengers every day.
Team: ALA partners Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Janne Teräsvirta and Samuli Woolston with Sami Mikonheimo, Pekka Tainio, Niklas Mahlberg, Harri Ahokas, Santtu Hyvärinen, Mikko Kilpeläinen, Nina Rusanen, Miguel Silva, Pekka Sivula, Jyri Tartia and Yena Young, in collaboration with Esa Piironen Architects (Esa Piironen, Juha Lumme, Henriikka Ryhänen)
The first phase of the western extension of the Helsinki metropolitan area subway line, the West Metro – in use since November 18, 2017 – connects Ruoholahti, Helsinki to Matinkylä, Espoo. The West Metro will service over 170,000 passengers per day. The objective that has been set for the architecture of the eight new stations along the first, and the five new stations along the second phase of the extension is to create distinctive, location-specific identities for them on both urban and interior scale. At the same time the metro will act as a link between the various urban centers of the City of Espoo and in a way create its new backbone.
Dipoli, the listed iconic and experimental student union building of Helsinki University of Technology designed by Raili and Reima Pietilä and completed in 1966 has gone through a complete renovation and gotten a new life as the main building of Aalto University. The building reopened for fall semester 2017.
Team: ALA partners Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Janne Teräsvirta and Samuli Woolston with Toni Laurila, Pekka Sivula, Simo Nuojua, Lotta Kindberg, Tiina Liisa Juuti, Marlène Oberli-Räihä, Mirja SIllanpää and Sari Vesanen
Collaborators: Workspace (office space concept), Creadesign (service design), Kristo Vesikansa (conservation), Ramboll Finland (building services engineering), Palotekninen insinööritoimisto Markku Kauriala (fire safety), Vahanen Group (structural design), Tuuli Sotamaa (interior design), Helimaki Acoustics (acoustics design), Suurkeittiö-Insinööritoimisto Rita Pulli (kitchen design), NCC Building (main contractor)
Status: Completed, the building re-opened for fall semester 2017
The Suvela chapel was commissioned by the Espoo Parish Union and it will be used jointly by the Espoo Parish Union, the Swedish Parish of Espoo and the City of Espoo to serve the entire community of Suvela. It is a multifunctional building that offers a space for the people of the community to use together for their many different needs regardless of their religious affiliation.
OOPEAA embarked on the design and planning for the Suvela Chapel and the nearby community park in 2012. The goal was to create a building that has a strong identity of its own while also entering in dialogue with the multicultural context of its suburban neighborhood.
The former main building of the Helsinki University of Technology took on a new role when three universities were merged as Aalto University in 2010. The Otaniemi Campus designed by Alvar Aalto was chosen as the shared home of the Aalto Schools of Engineering, Business and Arts & Design.
MotorCenter is a retail office building, which gathers car dealers and related companies under one roof. The building is located in Espoo in the intersection of Länsiväylä and Soukanväylä. The two floors feature high interiors, and some of the spaces include a mezzanine. The second floor deck gives drive–‐in access to second floor stores, with some of the parking spaces right in front of the stores. The MotorCenter now features such services as vehicle inspection, collision repair shop and paintshop, and a garage and restaurant for the customers and workers in the area. The front facade, which faces Länsiväylä, is clad with ceramic plates and the rest of the facades with steel cassette panels.
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