Builders build, authorities coordinate
Construction in Finland begins with the creation of a kind of pattern, a template. Therefore, the plan can tell a lot even before work begins. Can it be used to influence the appearance of buildings and their design? Yes, the plan contains regulations concerning, for example, construction volumes, parking availability, and the location of auxiliary rooms. The materials used for facades, their color scheme, and details taken into account when designing courtyards and streets are regulated. In addition to the plan, there are numerous city and state regulations that specify the conditions under which land is provided for construction.
In the 1980s in Helsinki, regulations on the development of the capital region were adopted to ensure that new areas were built within a limited time. The country believed that without coordination of large construction companies by central authorities, construction could take much longer, which would negatively affect the final result.
• By the way, since large-scale construction always involves the use of various equipment, companies often have a problem with maintenance and repair of excavators, loaders, and other road construction machinery. That is why JSB SERVICE organized its own service center for repairing the most popular road construction equipment. On the company's website http://www.jcb-service.ru/ you can order maintenance and repair of JCB – JCB 3CX backhoe loaders, NEW HOLLAND B 110, CASE 580 and their analogues.
Why Wait for Good Weather by the Sea
Some new city quarters in the Finnish capital are built on reclaimed land. That is, simply put, on land taken from the sea. And where there are winds, there are problems. Therefore, before construction begins, aerodynamic tests are carried out on a model of the master plan, the results of which help calculate the height of buildings and the layout of streets. For example, the winter westerly sea winds were considered the biggest problem of the new capital project of city quarters in Jatkasaari. They are being built on the site of a former port area, where it was always very cold due to the proximity of the sea.
All these facts were taken into account in the design. Therefore, when the first phases of the residential quarter were built in the city center, residents happily noted that the wind no longer blew around the cape with the same force, and there was no cause for concern.
There are also regulations for floods in the Finnish capital. The floor of apartments on the first floors of new quarters must be no lower than 3.30 m above the average water level. Below that, non-residential premises such as parking lots and storage rooms can be located. The landscape is designed so that water during floods is directed into the sea through special channels, as rainwater drainage alone is insufficient during floods.
Around and About
Building a house and forgetting to tidy up the surroundings is impossible in Finland. The area near the houses is improved and put in order simultaneously with the completion of construction and is even woven into the general infrastructure of the city. In the center of Helsinki, it is hard not to notice a pedestrian zone running below street level. This is the so-called Baana. Once upon a time, railway tracks serving the port and shipyards ran here. And now this space is given over to paths where cyclists happily ride and pedestrians stroll. Moreover, they do not have to cross a single intersection.
Residents and guests of Helsinki can easily get to the city center and even reach the station. And thanks for that should go to the same Jatkasaari under construction. Such large-scale urban projects are always a huge field for creativity and implementation of ideas! Therefore, the Finns have been given not only a unique bicycle path but also such important household 'little things' as waste disposal. In the new quarters, garbage is fed into a receiving pipe and moved in batches to a central station, from where a special truck takes the bins. The system is hygienic and reduces the amount of transport removing waste by 8% compared to conventional methods.
This is Eco-Life!
Ecology is given the utmost importance in Finnish construction. One of the best examples is the recently built building of the Faculty of Ecotechnologies at the University of Helsinki, which is also an eco-center of the city, where many unique construction innovations are developed. The building is located in the experimental eco-district Eco-Viikki not far from the Finnish capital. The construction project was financed from the Helsinki budget.
Initially, the work was estimated at 22 million euros (building area – 6700 sq m). However, the crisis interfered, costs had to be cut, and the building cost 17.7 million euros. About 700 thousand euros had to be spent on special insulation, heat recovery ventilators (devices that capture energy from the air leaving the house), and solar panels. It is believed that all these systems will pay for themselves in 10 years.
The building is equipped with energy production equipment. Its annual consumption is around 70 kWh per square meter per year (normally 210). Solar panels are installed on the roof and the southern facade. Since they are only one meter from the walls, the facade is naturally insulated. Not only the thermal characteristics are normal. Under the ceiling in the offices there are 'cold beams.' In summer, cool water circulates through them. In the future, all these innovations are planned to be implemented in the construction of residential buildings.
Trend – Center, or What the Finns Want
• Previously, Finns did not want to live in small apartments. They preferred to move further from the center and settle in expensive 3–4-room apartments. Now the situation has changed, and prices for large apartments have fallen. Why? In the center of the Finnish capital, sinkku (translated from English as 'singles') prefer to live. They don't need 'palaces'; a small living space is quite enough. Small apartments are few, so their prices are constantly rising. There was news in Ilta-Sanomat that a 19 m² apartment in Meilahti was sold for 170 thousand euros, and very quickly. Large apartments in Finland now take much longer to sell.
• Why are there more and more lonely people in Finland? There are many reasons. For example, Finnish 'green' activists impose the belief that a person has enough communication on the Internet. And they call this progress. Apparently, they want to catch up with Japan, where young people prefer to experience virtual feelings, explaining that family is a burdensome obligation. As a result, the number of singles in Finland is growing, and there are not enough small apartments for everyone.
• Another reason for giving up large apartments is that young Finns in large Finnish cities want to have children later, around the age of 30–40 (rather than 20–30). If previously young Finnish families preferred to live in country houses with a garden and vegetable patch, now these desires have waned. Even a summer cottage with a sauna on the lake shore, without which the country's residents could hardly get by, is no longer in fashion.
• Many single Finns have begun to give up not only large apartments on the outskirts, but also car trips. They prefer to live in the center and walk. And if they need to go somewhere, there are buses, metro, trams, bicycles, after all. Transport problems no longer worry anyone. Therefore, small apartments in the center of Finnish cities are at the peak of popularity, and this is taken into account when building modern neighborhoods.
What to do with the majority of old housing stock? What a question?! Repair and insulate if necessary! The main financial burden falls on the residents, with the state subsidy averaging about 10%. Finns have always known how to build; the walls in old houses are made of stone, ventilation is meticulously designed, so there is often no point in major renovations.