The zoning competition for the Espoo building to be placed in Espoonkeskus is currently underway in cooperation with the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA). Four working groups were chosen to continue in the competition, whose works are Encounters, Kontrapunkti, Lehteri and Virta. The competition entries are made available for residents to see and comment on the city of Espoo’s website. Comments can be sent until March 28. The received feedback is used when evaluating the competition work.
The evaluation focuses on the functionality, attractiveness, comfort and feasibility of the overall solutions. The final selection will be made by the beginning of June, when the competition exhibition will also take place in Espoonkeskus’s Entresse library.
The competition area is located north of the Espoo railway station on the site of an old office building and forms a central part of the functional and urban heart of Espoonkeskus. Espoo-talo combines city administration facilities, versatile services, cultural and business facilities, and facilities that serve both decision-making and cooperation with residents. The new facilities will bring together the city’s units and services, which are currently scattered in different locations, which will bring savings on the operating costs of the city’s administrative facilities and make the services easily accessible to the residents. In addition to the Espoo building, the competition area will include new construction for nearly 600 residents, a grocery store and various business premises.
“There are currently around 30,000 residents in the Espoonkeskus area, and the number will grow in the future. Building a house in Espoo is a big step towards developing the area into an attractive city center where services are easily accessible, says Olli Isotalo, director of urban environment.
The detailed plan of the area will be revised based on the winning competition work. The winning design can also be further developed during the design process.
Espoonkeskus is being developed while respecting the local identity
Espoonkeskus is one of Espoo’s five city centers and it also functions as Espoo’s administrative center. The Espoo house architecture competition is part of the wider development of Espoonkeskus. The goal of the development work is to produce a high-quality urban environment.
“The diversification of the station area plays a key role in the development of Espoonkeskus,” says the project manager Mikko Kivinen.
HT
Source: City of Espoo
Source: The Nordic Page