{"id":59736,"date":"2024-07-19T08:06:23","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T05:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/?post_type=showroom_cpt&p=59736"},"modified":"2025-12-01T15:37:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T13:37:04","slug":"savonlinnas-new-luxury-tourist-destination-rauhalinna-got-a-magnificent-pier","status":"publish","type":"showroom_cpt","link":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/projects\/savonlinnas-new-luxury-tourist-destination-rauhalinna-got-a-magnificent-pier\/","title":{"rendered":"Savonlinna’s new luxury tourist destination Rauhalinna got a magnificent pier"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t \n \n \t At the forefront of port and water structure \n design <\/i>\n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/a>\n\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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Savonlinna’s new luxury tourist destination Rauhalinna got a magnificent pier<\/h1>\n

The Rauhalinna lace villa in Savonlinna, which has been renovated into a luxurious tourist destination, got a quay suitable for its value, from which it is suitable to take an inland waterway boat to an opera festival, for example. The design of the approximately 30-metre quay was the responsibility of Sweco’s civil engineering experts.<\/p>\n

Located in Lehtiniemi, Savonlinna, the wooden lace villa Rauhalinna has fascinated locals and tourists for over 100 years. The valuable building, completed in 1900, was restored by Suomen Liikekiinteist\u00f6t SLK Oy in a project by local forces into a luxury tourist destination.<\/p>\n

One of the special features of Rauhalinna is its location on the shore of Lake Saimaa. The villa has 3.4 kilometers of private shoreline, and now there is a new pier on the beach in addition to the sauna buildings. Its general design and the permit process in accordance with the Water Act began already in 2020, and the same Sweco water construction experts continued in the structural design of the quay.<\/p>\n

“The wide-ranging design office provided us with experts in wood construction, concrete construction and quay construction, which is a rare combination,” says Hannu Reinikainen, Real Estate Manager at Suomen Liikekiinteist\u00f6t SLK Oy and Head of the Rauhalinna construction site. “It is also rare that we received feasible plans at once.”<\/p>\n

The old boat dock remained inside the new one<\/h2>\n

The aim was to design a quay where two Saimaa inland waterway vessels could be moored at once. “The pier is located in a rather wretched place in terms of winds, which is why the shape of the pier is rare: triangular,” Reinikainen says. The old pier, completed in 1975, already had the same shape. “The shape protects the pier from ice loads in winter.”<\/p>\n

There are many conservation values associated with the Rauhalinna villa, but no mention of the pier was found in the documents other than maintaining a boat connection to the city of Savonlinna. However, the shape of the pier was kept unchanged, and only the corners of the triangle were rounded.<\/p>\n

“The fracture-like shape of the corner retaining wall made of precast concrete elements is visibly covered by the cast-in-place curved edge wall,” says Matti Karttunen, Project Manager for Sweco’s harbours and waterways. The old log coffin pier did not need to be demolished, but remained inside the new corner retaining wall pier.<\/p>\n

Wooden Pooki completes 30-metre pier<\/h2>\n

In keeping with the value of Rauhalinna, the pier is also handsome. Its longest side is about 30 meters, and the shorter is about 20. “The height was optimised for inland waterway vessels, and the protective beam of the quay was designed to match the fenders on the sides of the ships,” Karttunen says.<\/p>\n

The deck of the pier is clad with Finnish spruce planks, and the architect also designed a small wooden building, Pook, for the extensive terrace part of the pier, whose wooden structure design was the responsibility of Sweco.<\/p>\n

“The idea is based on a land-based sea mark, pooki, used in the Northern Bay of Bothnia,” Reinikainen says. Skippers need a certain amount of electrical and safety technology to dock, which was now hidden inside the building. It was also combined with a small glazed space, which continues the tradition of the boathouse and bathing room that used to be there.<\/p>\n

A new pier with connecting bridges awaits the summer season on the shore of Lake Saimaa. Under the auspices of Pook, those heading to the Opera Festival can enjoy toasts or admire the Finnish summer for a while. According to Reinikainen, the new pier could withstand an icebreaker, for example.<\/p>\n

“Our idea is that when something is built, it is built in such a way that repairing it is only a matter for the next generation.”<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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