Satamakoti - a competition design for the masterplan of the southern port in Helsinki

Our design of Masterplan links back together the disconnected urban areas. While the West Coast serves as a livelihood for sports and diverse activities, the East Coast is transformed into a lively urban area, which at the same time enables the future residents of the city to enjoy the view of the sea and its seafront. The intersection of both banks is the historic marketplace; an important element is the identity of the city and will therefore only be maintained with less communication improvements. In addition, along the embankment, new clusters of economic activities are set up to generate leisure, cultural, recreational and social interactions and thus new jobs in a wide range of industries.

Historic Market Square is an important element of the city. It creates an urban profile that defines Helsinki. Maintaining this historical cultural value is important. Therefore, it is considered an open multifunctional market space. Only a small improvement is proposed for a better walking connection from Espalandi Park to the new museum and the Katajanokka terminal. A necklace of cultural attractions is situated around the harbor. The most important of these is the Gugenheim Gallery, the new dominant building that closes Esplanadi Park. This museum will become a regional destination and an international attraction. The proposed network of interwoven public spaces, forming social gatherings and unifying new embankments, is an opportunity for the city to draw the embankment into the bustle of the urban environment while retaining its personal port function.

Decision of the jury of architectural competition:

The general architectural solution is realistic, powerful and modern. The approach contains valuable new ideas for the development of the area. It meets the urban environment and its cultural and historical values, it creates new valuable city levels. The project creates a pleasant and diverse environment at the seafront. The whole area is attractive for the users in all seasons, and the solution includes large park areas. Walking roads and biking trails in the area have greatly improved. This mode is spatially coherent and on a good scale.