HUSLAB, Helsinki
Construction of HUSLAB
The most significant new building of Helsingin yliopistokiinteistöt in the next few years is being built beside Meilahti Hospital, at Haartmaninkatu 3.
At the end of 2015, HUSLAB, the organisation responsible for the laboratory services of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Health Care District, will start operating in this building, becoming one of Europe’s largest centralised sampling and analysis centres.
Energy efficiency and small carbon footprint
For the constructor this is a unique project from all perspectives. Strict requirements of the user have had to be considered from the beginning of the design and planning. Cooperation with housing building experts is tight and competence to control changes is vital.
Aimo Hämäläinen, deputy director of the University of Helsinki’s Space and Real Estate Center, which is responsible for the construction of building technology, says that the construction project belongs to the most demanding category. “In this kind of project nearly flawless functional certainty from housing building is expected. Every solution must be first class.” says Hämäläinen. “For example, there will be three different electricity grids: normal distribution network, a safety supply network verified by a diesel backup generator and UPS network which ensures functionality in every situation possible.”
Lots of competence in housing building
Housing building for Haartmaninkatu 3 has been designed by Projectus Team from Espoo. During the 2000s the company has been responsible for many laboratory and special facility solutions of housing building. However, this project is without a doubt the most demanding one. Project manager Kirsti Pakkanen describes the project as very interesting. Three different electricity networks, laboratory facilities that include many electrical devices and top of the game flexibility/modifiability affected on design and planning.
SRV works as the head constructor while Quattroservices, which has done recently many projects in Finland and in Russia, is responsible for the electrical construction. According to manager Petri Railakari the HUSLAB project begun after normal competitiveness procedures in the summer of 2014. “We have a lot of experience in cooperation with many constructors and construction companies. SRV has been our partner previously also and this good partnership continues” says Railakari.
Criteria for cable management systems
Meka Pro Oy was an easy choice. “They are known cable management system manufacturer and we have used their products in many projects. Both materials and installation methods have become familiar to us”, says Petri Railakari. According to him also competitive prices and well working deliveries straight to construction site are important factors in decision making.
Installer Seppo Huumonen says that the first time he used MEKA® cable management systems was in the 1980s. “These have become quite familiar during the years” laughs Huumonen. “The new wire mesh trays are great. Flexibility and hygiene were required in the open laboratory facilities´ cable management.”
About two kilometres of the new MEKA® wire mesh trays were used in the open laboratories. Traditional cable ladders KS20 were used for ten kilometres.
The new HUSLAB building interconnects with other buildings on the site that were built in 1966 and are currently also in HUSLAB´s use. Total surface area of the new building is about 25 000 square metres, and it has six floors at the highest.
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