Finnish Design Shop’s aesthetic logistics building
Finnish Design Shop’s new logistics centre in Turku is a gem of logistics, with a magnificent showroom and a total of approximately 350 square metres of office space. Together, NREP, Avanto Architects, Finnish Design Shop, YIT and Sweco developed a completely new kind of warehouse building, the unique and aesthetic result of which was created in close cooperation.
The customer’s precise vision of the architecturally impressive façade and the interior architect’s vision of the interior brought a completely new approach to the project. The BREAAM certificate and the environmental measures set by the City of Turku brought their own preconditions for the project, resulting in a warehouse building that has never been seen before in Finland. The concrete, wood and glass used as the main surface materials of the unique logistics centre were considered choices for Finnish Design Shop and strongly supported the company’s brand and wide range of products consisting of Scandinavian design.
“This is an architecturally impressive building in the middle of nature. The façade architects designed a façade that differs from conventional warehouse buildings in that closed surfaces and three-dimensional wood and glass elements meet. In addition to the logistics hall, the input of building and structural technology was needed in the building when designing teamwork spaces and functionalities, such as a showroom that serves consumer and corporate customers and was designed by an interior architect,” says Aki Luntamo, Department Manager at Sweco.
The project progressed as planned, working together on a tight schedule.
“A big common challenge for the project was the really tight schedule. In practice, the design and construction were carried out in a year, whereas normally the time could be double or triple, depending on the project,” Aki continues.
It was not just a logistics hall, but a much larger complex with several functionalities from headquarters to office space. This required close cooperation between different operators.
“One good example of this is the fan radiators embedded in the lobby floor, which had to be coordinated so that they could be embedded in the floor structures. The practical implementation required close cooperation between HVAC, structural designers and the contractor. The same goes for electrical work and automation.” There was also close cooperation in roof hole design, for example, when the HVAC plans and Fire Consultant’s smoke extraction plans were in their infancy and hole information was needed for the structural designer to order the tiles,” says Santtu Meristö, Department Manager at Sweco.
Building design plays a key role when taking the environment into account
The construction of the new logistics centre was also subject to environmental regulations from the City of Turku and the BREEAM certificate.
The certification affected lighting and electrical design, for example. “Particular attention was paid to minimising light pollution from outside. This means, among other things, that the outdoor lights do not cause glare in the direction of the interior or that there is no illumination in the direction of the sky. The utilisation of geothermal heat was also taken into account in energy planning and solar panels were installed, which have been able to cover almost all of the property’s electricity consumption in the summer months.
With BREEAM certification, the aim was also high in terms of indoor air conditions – on a concrete level, this means larger air volumes in the meeting and working space, monitoring of conditions and regular measurements of carbon dioxide levels.
Design is not limited to indoor spaces – stormwater is controlled with better HVAC design
One key area related to the environment was the logistics centre’s yard areas and solutions related to stormwater treatment. Oil and sand separators and delay quarries were built in the yard area to curb stormwater and thus reduce environmental erosion.
The aim is to achieve the second highest Excellent rating in the BREEAM environmental classification system, which has so far only been awarded to two logistics buildings in Finland.
The new logistics centre responds to Finnish Design Shop’s growing plans for the future
The aim was to take the future into account already in the design and construction phases, as the logistics hall complex meets the constantly growing demand for Finnish Design Shop, but also supports the tough growth targets. When in addition to the showroom, there is an online store pick-up point and an office building with meeting rooms in the same building, all stakeholders can be served even better and more efficiently. The growth targets will require even more efficient logistics, which will be enabled by functional premises.