Lemminkäinen built a head office for itself in Salmisaari

Press release 1.9.2009

Lemminkäinen’s head office moved into new premises in the Salmisaari district of Helsinki in August. The management and administrative functions of Lemminkäinen Corporation as well as the Group companies Lemminkäinen Talo Oy, Oy Alfred A. Palmberg Ab, Lemcon Ltd, Lemcon Networks Ltd and Lemminkäinen Infra Oy have relocated to Salmisaari.

The new premises are part of a 66,000 m2 office complex developed by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company. Lemminkäinen subsidiary Oy Alfred A. Palmberg Ab carried out the construction work as a project management contract. The value of the contract was approx. EUR 100 million, making it one of Finland’s biggest building construction projects in recent years. Lemminkäinen Group companies Lemminkäinen Infra Oy, Tekmanni Oy, Lemminkäinen Katto Oy and Lemminkäinen Betonituote Oy also participated in the project.

Construction work at Salmisaari began in summer 2006. The premises intended for use by Varma were completed in summer 2008, and phase II construction, the premises of Sampo Bank Ltd, last summer. Lemminkäinen’s 10,000 m2 of office space were completed in July 2009.

The foundation works for the buildings were challenging because the site is located beside the sea and partly on fill material. The buildings are mainly supported on bored piles reaching down to the bedrock. The location of the Salmisaari site next to busy highways posed logistical challenges. The seaborne transportation of construction materials was planned for, but in the end the transports were handled by land.

Before construction work started, Helsinki Energy had enormous stockpiles of coal on the site. To accommodate these, four storage silos measuring 75 metres high and 40 metres in diameter with a total capacity of 240,000 cubic metres were excavated underground. The challenging rock engineering contract also included a lot of shotcreting, rock-bolting and grouting work. The silos were constructed by Lemminkäinen Infra Oy in a three-year project during the early 2000s.

As recently as the beginning of the last century, Salmisaari was a small island in the bay. In the early 1920s the strait between Salmisaari island and the mainland was filled in and the area was developed for industrial use.

Industrial area gets a new look

Lemminkäinen’s office premises consists of two buildings, which are named after two deities from Finnish mythology: Vetehinen (God of the Sea) and Ilmatar (Spirit of Air). The conference rooms are also named after characters from Finland’s national epic, the Kalevala.

The new red-brick head office building blends in well with the old industrial environment that was built in the 1930-50s. Buildings like the nearby power plant, cable factory, harbour and winery are absent from other modern business parks. The new office complex was designed by architect Tuomo Siitonen.

Behind the red-brick façade and dark trellises, the modern and well-equipped office spaces are light and airy. With something like 10,000 square metres of window area in total, there is no lack of natural light inside the building. Part of the premises can be converted into an open-plan office, the remainder separate rooms. The personnel have contributed to the interior design solutions.

”The working conditions and ergonomy of the interior were high on the list of design priorities – if not right at the top,” says Tuomo Siitonen.

The waterfront office premises at Salmisaari are Lemminkäinen Group’s eighth head office building. In 2010 the Company will celebrate its centenary. Lemminkäinen’s first premises were also by the sea – at Merisatama in Helsinki. Lemminkäinen moved to Salmisaari having been based in Länsi-Pasila for 25 years. Like the new head office building, the Länsi-Pasila premises were also built by Oy Alfred A. Palmberg Ab.

Additional information:
Lemminkäinen Corporation, Corporate Communications
tel. 02071 54814

Lemminkäinen Group operates in all areas of the construction sector. The Group's business sectors are building construction, infrastructure construction, technical building services, and building products. Net sales in 2008 were approx. EUR 2.5 billion, of which international operations accounted for over a quarter. The Group employs about 9,800 people. Lemminkäinen Corporation's share is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. www.lemminkainen.com