The Kulttuurikasarmi combines film and restaurant experiences under the same roof
The story of the Helsinki bus station continued when a versatile entertainment and cultural centre was designed in the listed building. The Kulttuurikasarmi offers cinema experiences, event facilities and restaurant services in the middle of Kamppi. Sweco was responsible for the structural, HVAC and electrical design of the site.
In autumn 2023, a new entertainment and cultural centre, the Kulttuurikasarmi, was completed in the premises of Helsinki’s old bus station. The building was empty in the middle of the Lasipalatsi quarter when Ari Tolppanen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kulttuurikasarmi Oy and father of the project, came up with the idea of a film centre.
“When I walked past the building in 2015, I thought that something should be done about it, and of course the first thing that came to mind was the cinema,” Tolppanen says. The model was his earlier film centre project Nordia, which operated on Yrjönkatu until 2000. “Because of the location, there were even more opportunities for the bus station.”
In 2019, the design of underground cinema facilities began for the building. Then the event facilities on the top floor were added to the complex, a restaurant floor at ground level, and the Lasipalatsi with composite columns and steel beams on top of the yard deck.
“Kulttuurikasarmi got their final shape based on accurate calculations and market analyses, and in the end it was probably built according to the 14th drawings,” Tolppanen recalls. Sweco was involved from the very beginning. “We were aware of how central HVAC, electrical and underground structural engineering were to the end result, and Sweco is a reliable company.”
A 10-metre hole was dug under Kulttuurikasarmi
According to Harri Makkonen, Department Manager at Sweco, the location of the site in the city centre was exceptional in itself. The solutions had to be prepared for, for example, the City Rail Loop tunnel, where commuter trains may pass by the city centre in the future. The renovation was also extensive. “All that remained were the protected exterior walls, the wooden intermediate floors at the far end and the old disused furnace.”
A pit about 10 metres deep was dug and excavated under the building, and the old masonry exterior walls were continued underground with reinforced concrete walls cast on site. “The old exterior walls had to be supported with bored pile towers and horizontal supports during the construction period,” Makkonen says. The roof was renewed with a lightweight structure and supported with new steel frames. “The eaves rate remained unchanged.”
Building services do not change protected facades
All the different functions had to fit into about 4,000 square meters, which is why a lot of coordination of steel structures and building services was carried out at the site. “From a building services perspective, no two square meters are the same,” says Niklas Lind, Sweco’s Head of Electrical, Telecommunications and Security Engineering.
The City of Helsinki took a stand on the impact of the design solutions on the cityscape, and the technology was completely hidden outside the building. Ventilation, smoke exhaust fans and other technology were camouflaged inside technology chimneys that looked like old chimneys.
The versatility of the technical needs is indicated by the fact that there are several kitchens and DMX-controlled effect lighting in the cinema halls and foyer. “DALI-controlled lighting includes reservations for a total of about 60 different luminaires,” says Lind. Security is ensured by access control, camera and robbery alarm systems. The fire alarm system controls emergency lighting and cinema hall technology underground. “The system automatically stops movies if necessary.”
Energy calculations ensured the indoor conditions of the Lasipalatsi
Kulttuurikasarmi uses district heating and cooling, and all waste heat is recovered. Hydronic heat recovery covers both the ventilation system and kitchen hoods. The indoor conditions were ensured with energy simulation, because the cooling need is high in full theatres underground and in the Lasipalatsi when the summer sun heats the premises.
Tolppanen has only good things to say about structural and building services. “The building works, and the demanding conditions in the Lasipalatsi are warm in winter and cool in summer.”
Kulttuurikasarmi was inaugurated on November 17, 2023, and has received a rave reception from visitors. “We succeeded in combining a well-suited new part of the 200-year-old building with versatile activities on all three floors,” Tolppanen says. He considers the viewing conditions in the cinema to be the best possible: thanks to sufficient excavation, the halls are of just the right proportions. “After visiting once, people seem to keep coming back, and our event venues are also very popular.”