Alppilanbulevardi represents new urban construction in Oulu

Published 30.9.2025

Rakennusliike Lapti is involved in modifying the multi-block boulevard street that will replace Kemintie in Oulu. Modern city apartments, business premises and services will be created around Alppilanbulevardi, which the first residents of the area have already fallen in love with.

Architectural design of Alppilanbulevardi based on the winning entry

In 2015–2016, the City of Oulu organised a competition for a partner to replace the four-lane Kemintie with a pleasant boulevard street all the way from Tuira to Pohjatie. At the same time, the urban structure will become denser and the residents of the area will receive new services. Rakennusliike Lapti was selected as a partner of the City of Oulu in the development of the area with the winning entry of the competition, “Galaksi”.

“The project is very attractive from our point of view, as it is rare to have such an entity available near the city centre,” says Hannu Pihlajaviita, Lapti’s Construction Manager.

Lapti chose Linja Architects, which is now part of Sweco, as its partner in drafting the competition entry. According to Pihlajaviita, their evidence was convincing, and cooperation had gone well in previous plan change projects. “For us, the most important thing is the new ideas, professionalism and similar mindset we get from the architects.”

Residents fell in love with the first block of Alppilanbulevardi

Of the three-block complex, the plan change for the first block was completed a couple of years after the competition, and the plan change for the next two blocks in 2023.

“Zoning projects of this magnitude were new to us, so we gained valuable experience from Sweco’s architects in carrying out the process,” Pihlajaviita says. Added value was brought by the architects’ wide-ranging expertise, for example in impressive visualisations. “It has been easy for us to present the plans for the area with 3D images, for example, to municipal decision-makers.”

Sweco is also responsible for the main and architectural design of the buildings in the area, and the first residential apartment building was completed in spring 2021 in the Kesätie block. One of the resident groups are Oulu residents who have lived in the adjacent detached house area for their entire lives, for whom Kesätie offers a city home for retirement.

“Residents particularly like the architecture, location and transport connections of the buildings,” Pihlajaviita says. The motorway ramp is right next door, public transport connections are good and there is a bicycle path running through the area. Urban planning has also prepared for the tramway.

A landmark building was designed for Alppilanbulevardi

The first block of the area has been completed, and the construction planning of the next blocks has begun. The construction of the boulevard itself will begin in the next few years. The completed complex will connect the residential areas currently separated by Kemintie, Alppila and Välivainio.

“At the same time, the city boulevard will reduce driving speeds, intensify construction and create a new urban district in place of the road environment,” says Jaakko Kallio-Koski, the project’s chief designer.

The reference design of all three blocks has included, among other things, the floor plans of 18 apartment buildings and 2 parking garages, as well as the design of the architectural appearance of the area. The entity has been developed together with Lapti, listening to the needs of the City of Oulu.

“For example, we have been responsible for keeping in touch with the detailed plan and combining the plans of different design disciplines into a functional whole,” says Venla Leppänen, Project Architect at Sweco. The plans take into account the needs of both the client and other parties, without forgetting the pleasant cityscape.

There has also been close cooperation with traffic planners, landscape designers and Sweco’s Fluid Dynamics (CDF) experts, who ensured that the new environment will be an urban space with pleasant wind comfort conditions. One of the carefully considered details was the 12-storey landmark building on the boulevard. A solution for the location, which is visible in the cityscape, was sought on the basis of an internal competition by Sweco’s architects.

“The internal design competition saved us a lot of work, and we got a lot of different options,” Pihlajaviita says with satisfaction. The architects designed 14 proposals for Lapti, the three best of which were also presented to the City of Oulu. The author of the competition entry selected for further development turned out to be Millamari Karppinen, who was still an architecture student at the time of the design competition. The competition opened a path for him to join the design of a landmark building already at the beginning of his career.

Art and details enliven the residential area

In Kallio-Koski’s opinion, the block as a whole is well in line with the vision of the original competition entry, even though the most ambitious ideas have been polished together to make them feasible.

“The volume and scale of construction are at their highest around the boulevard, and both decrease as you get closer to the Välivainio area of detached houses,” he says. The architecture of the area will be recognizable, but its materials and details will vary. The use of brick and wood as façade materials and the varying roof shapes of the buildings are distinctive features. “We wanted to avoid excessive repetition and monotony and create urban spaces of different natures, meandering routes and interesting views within the area.”

Several common spaces and block buildings, such as saunas and residents’ huts, have been planned for the blocks. In addition, urban planning supports urban mobility, from street basketball to skateboarding. Art is also a visible theme. “For example, there is an art route through the blocks, and areas have been reserved for street games for playing fields,” Kallio-Koski says. Stormwater is collected from the blocks into the stormwater channel of the park zone on the edge of the area.

According to Kallio-Koski, the multi-phase project has progressed very smoothly with Lapti from one phase to the next. “It has been crucial that the customer has been interested in the development of a high-quality urban environment from the beginning. Urban planning creates a built environment not only for current residents but also for future generations.”