An international meeting place – Valmet’s Tikkurila office brings together people, ideas and innovations
When Valmet started planning its new premises, the main goal was to make encounters between people and moving in the spaces as easy as possible. The company, which is creating an innovative industry for the future, also wanted the premises to reflect its pioneering approach to sustainability.
Valmet’s spectacular, five-storey office building is located on Lauri Korpisen katu, next to Tikkurila train station and Dixi shopping centre. Trains run to the airport and Helsinki city centre every 10 minutes, with bus stops located right outside the building. A tram stop is also being built next to the office building. Motorists are served by a 480-space parking garage, and the area offers excellent cycling route networks for commuting.
“It s hard to imagine better premises than these. Our main goal for the office project was to ensure maximum accessibility, and this location fulfils that requirement,” explains Valmet’s Senior Project Manager Seppo Kaukiainen, who presented the new facilities and was responsible for the project.
Meeting place for the entire group
We are standing in the lobby of the new office building, which houses a large reception desk and is adorned by beautiful paper lighting fixtures. The showroom, located adjacent to the lobby, presents textiles that make use of a new kind of recycled material technology.
”These fabrics reflect the new era, as does this office. We are creating innovative industry for the future, and we want our premises to also convey our pioneering spirit and sustainability,” says Kaukiainen.
And he office building really achieves this goal. Completed at the end of 2024, the property represents the pinnacle of sustainable facility construction with Class A energy efficiency classifications, platinum-level LEED certifications and first-class indoor air conditions.
Kaukiainen says that the company’s 800 employees have now been working in the building for just over six months. The building is Valmet’s third large property in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The head office of the technology company that employs about 19,000 people and operates in more than 40 countries is in Keilaniemi, Espoo, and its factory is located in Hakkila, Vantaa.
”This is where all Valmet negotiations and international meetings will take place going forward. “A great location has made this a place where people, ideas and even innovations come together,” says Kaukiainen.
High-quality services as an attraction factor
In the building’s central square, we find a spacious buffet restaurant and a kiosk café offering breakfast and catering services. Meeting rooms of different sizes are situated around the centre of the area.
“The most important guiding factor in spatial and service design has been quality. The best operators in the industry have been selected as service providers and partners,” says Kaukiainen.
According to Kaukiainen, the company’s facility project began five years ago, when Valmet’s 1970s office buildings in Järvenpää started to require major refurbishment. The company had to consider whether it should start a repair project or find a new office that would be more effective at gathering Valmet’s employees working in various locations under the same roof.
A decision was made to seek new premises. A suitable property was sought in various parts of the metropolitan area. The search ended when Sponda offered the company a new development in Tikkurila that could be tailored to its specific needs.
“The offer met all our wishes. We wanted a first-class location, a highly sustainable property and spaces designed to meet our specific needs – and Sponda made it possible to achieve all these goals,” Kaukiainen notes.
Knowledge travels and ideas fly
We continue to the office floors, which have their own signature colours and a uniform layout to facilitate navigation. Although the rooms are spacious, the acoustics are excellent. Stacks of board games and partially assembled jigsaw puzzles can be seen on the tables in the lobbies on each floor.
According to Kaukiainen, spaces and activities that encourage encounters are meant to increase face-to-face interaction and innovation activities.
“Valmet underwent a recruitment boom in the early 1990s, and as hiring is surging again, the company has employees that represent two different generations. It is important for us to bring people together, so that tacit knowledge is passed on from generation to generation and people are able to generate ideas together.”
Encounters are also encouraged by a variety of meeting rooms and workstation locations. More than 100 conference rooms of different sizes can be found in the building.
Engineers from different fields have been placed on the same floors so that they come to spend coffee and lunch breaks together naturally. A large and well-equipped gym also encourages joint activities.
Spaces for events for all to use
The most spectacular meeting space can be found on the top floor, next to the sauna facilities and?the roof terrace.
“This was especially designed with international guests in mind, but staff can also use it for their departments’ needs,” Kaukiainen says.
The staircase looks even more stunning from above. Viewing the staircase, a spiralling piece of art, from the top landing is a dizzying experience. On each floor, a beautiful set of armchairs has been placed in front of the large windows in the lobby area, affording spectacular views over the surroundings.
Efficient facility project and well-managed relocation process
According to Kaukiainen, the transfer to the new premises took place with the same efficiency as the facility project.
“We moved at a rate of half a floor per week. The move was completed in seven weeks and no working hours were lost because of it,” says Kaukiainen, smiling.
In Kaukiainen’s opinion, however, the best thing has been to observe how the premises have been received. Especially the high-quality restaurant, functional acoustics and local amenities have received positive feedback.
People have also been pleased about finding a parking space on the same level as their office and having access to charging points for electric vehicles in the parking facility.
For the success of the project, Kaukiainen highlights employee involvement and active communication as the most important factors. The working groups included representatives from all professions and departments; additionally, ideas were collected from staff at various stages of the project.
Kaukiainen also emphasises the importance of good partners in the success of the project.
“As a large and reliable operator, Sponda has been a safe partner. We appreciate their expertise and pioneering work in sustainable facility construction.”
According to the project manager, the roofing brand made only minor changes to a few colour choices and details, so the premises largely reflect the views of architects and staff.
“We believe this has been a significant investment in the future. The premises are so cosy and pleasant that they will certainly attract our people there in large numbers for many years to come,” says Kaukiainen.
