Finnish architecture exports to China booming
PES Architects win competition for skyscraper in Chengdu
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Finnish architectural companies see the Chinese market as an increasingly lucrative export market.
The Finnish company PES Architects recently won a competition for the construction of a high-rise building in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.
The skyscraper, which is to be nearly 200 metres high, will contain offices, a shopping complex, a spa, a congress centre, and a residential hotel. The name of the building is to be “Yun Duan”, which means “above the clouds”.
Construction on the project is to begin in November next year. “We will be busy, because schedules in China are quite different from those in Finland”, says architect Tuomas Silvennoinen of PES Architects.
The company contracted another Finnish firm, Helin & Co., to deal with the residential part of the project.
“It must have exactly 87 apartments. This is non-negotiable, because the client feels that it is a harmonious number”, Silvennoinen explains.
Taking part in the project is the China Southwest Architectural Design & Research Institute.
“This is a good example of how networking is necessary in China”, says Silvennoinen, who shuttles to China at least once a month.
The company will have a massive project to supervise, when the Wux opera house is built near Shanghai. The whimsical building is to be three times the size of the Helsinki Music Centre.
With a 24-7 construction schedule, the drawings also have to come at a fast pace.
When the company won the contract in 2008, the project immediately provided work for 15 architects for an extended period. PES Architects currently has nearly 40 employees, a third of whom are young foreign citizens representing eight different nationalities.
The company is experienced in exports to China. In the past six years it has had more than 30 different projects in the country.
Also seeking a major foothold in China is Tommila Architects, which has developed its own DigiEcoCity concept, which is being exported to China with the help of a joint venture.
“About 400 million Chinese are expected to move from the countryside to the city in 10-15 years. they need to get as sustainable an environment as possible. this means that residences should be near people’s jobs”, explains architect Mauri Tommila.
China has calculated that the migrants will need 10,000 model cities the size of the Finnish city of Hyvinkää. Tommila sees great opportunities for export of design. He says that Finns could maximize the benefit if they gather an extensive group of experts of different fields together.
“It is good to move forward in the wake of Nokia.”
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 22.2.2010 - TODAY |
 Finnish architecture exports to China booming |
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