Metropolia Campus

Metropolia – Finland’s largest technical installations projecT

Quattroservices carried out Finland’s largest overall technical installations project when Metropolia University of Applied Sciences campus in Helsinki was built in 2017–2020.

The contract included all the heating, sanitation and ventilation as well as electrical, telecommunications, building automation and sprinkler work needed for the four buildings on campus. The client was the city of Helsinki.

The assignment was implemented as a project management contract. This enabled the control of procurement costs as well as close cooperation between the designers and construction workers. Quattroservices was in particular responsible for leading the project and realising the building services as well as meeting the set energy efficiency targets.

The campus was built in a logistically demanding location in Myllypuro, Helsinki. Situated between Ring Road I and the metro line, the campus, designed by the architectural firm Lahdelma & Mahlamäki, has excellent transport connections. Due to the constant traffic, intricate planning was required for the movement of personnel and materials during construction. The fourth completed building is located partly above the metro line and, therefore, the installation work was done in night-time while the metro was not operational.

As for the operations of Metropolia, education in construction, real estate, social services and health care were transferred to Myllypuro campus along with the management of the school. The architecture and technical installations at the campus have been greatly influenced by the needs of the users.

For example, health care students need completely different types of facilities and equipment compared to, for example, students of building engineering – or the campus library. In addition, open learning environments are now preferred to fixed classrooms, which requires conversion adaptability from the building services.

The total area of ​​the four buildings of the campus is approximately 56,000 m². The scale is immense in other aspects as well, with 11,000 LED lights, 4,000 data plugs, 50 ventilation units and 26 km of ventilation ducts installed.

Building engineering is utilized daily in teaching. For example, a ventilation machine is placed in the hating and ventilation laboratory, which is simultaneously used for teaching purposes. Ventilation, electrical cabinets, and other equipment are installed behind transparent and openable plexiglasses. In addition, the roof structures are open in many places, such as the building technology above the suspended ceilings is partly visible.

The property is connected to the district heating network. Cooling is provided by roof-mounted water-cooling machines. If necessary, ring ductwork system will allow air to be supplied to the same space with several ventilation units. As a result, air volumes can be adjusted on a room-by-room basis and thus also help to optimize energy consumption.