Varma
Office building Katajanokan Laituri
About the project
Commissioned by the pension insurance company Varma, Katajanokan Laituri is a modern office building located in a prime spot by the sea in Helsinki’s Katajanokka district. The site offers approximately 16,000 square meters of rentable space. The main tenant is Stora Enso, and the building will also house a Sokos hotel, company offices, and public spaces.
The project aimed to construct a high-quality and climate-responsible office building, reflected in the choice of materials, design, and multi-use spaces of the timber-framed structure. The entire design process took place in a 3D environment, and the modeling was exceptionally detailed, down to the level of details. In addition to design disciplines, suppliers of wooden and steel structures, shared support solutions, facades, weather protection, and a parking robot also modeled their parts.
The project won the public vote and received an honorary mention in the Tekla BIM Awards Finland 2024 competition. The competition is organized annually, and it rewards construction projects, that have used the best modeled information.
Fimpec’s role in the project
Fimpec played an important role in the project as the BIM coordinator. The task included defining the common rules for BIM for the project and ensures they are followed, defining the information content of the models and project coordination, performing clash detection on the models produced by the designers and reviewing them with the design team.
The BIM is a digital three-dimensional model containing all the information needed from project planning to implementation and maintenance. It allows for visualizing the building’s exterior and interior shapes during the design phase, helping to identify potential risks and issues before construction begins. BIM also helps optimize project costs and schedules by enabling precise planning and cost estimates.
As Mentioned
The important role of the BIM coordinator
“The work of BIM ensures that the designers’ plans are more compatible with each other, particularly supporting the lead designer. It also adds value by correcting conflicts early in the project, leading to cost savings,” says Nikolaos Avanidis, Fimpec’s BIM Manager, who served as the BIM coordinator for the Katajanokan Laituri project.
He continues by saying that Katajanokan Laituri was a very interesting and appropriately challenging project. Challenges included the building’s shape and the materials used. The importance of effective cooperation and everyone doing their job correctly and on time was emphasized.
“Our broad expertise and experience from over 400 BIM projects helped us complete the task. Personally, I found it useful that I have extensive experience in the construction industry in various roles as a designer, site engineer, and coordinator. It helps in seeing and understanding things.”
By Numbers
Gross area about
22,500
gross square meters
In the structural model
20,988
assemblies
Lifetime of the building
100
years
For more information
Johan Appelqvist
Business Unit Director,
Industry and Insight Services
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES
+358 50 466 0907
