The Kupittaan kärki partnership project will transform Turku Science Park into an increasingly versatile and robust entity over the coming years. The Science Park area is evolving into the city’s second centre and an important traffic hub.
Turku Science Park is developing and changing in giant leaps, spurred by the Kupittaan kärki partnership project launched this year. Through this major project implemented using an alliance model, the Science Park and Itäharju areas will merge into a new urban district. The project is significant in scale even by Finnish standards.
Last December, Turku selected as its alliance partner the YIT-led alliance group Terävin kärki, which consists of YIT Suomi Oy, Lundén Architecture Oy, and Arkkitehdit von Boehm – Renell Oy, with COBE A/S, AFRY Finland Oy, and WSP Finland Oy as named subcontractors.
“This is a very multi-dimensional and interesting project. It includes the preparation of a master plan for the entire planning area, a structure crossing Helsinginkatu and the railway, parking facilities for approximately 1,500 vehicles, and the Taito campus of the Turku Vocational Institute. The master plan under development will also serve as a reference plan for the new local detailed plan to be drafted for the area. The area is also planned to have plenty of other business premises and residential construction,” lists Project Development Manager Petteri Laine from YIT.
YIT has strong local knowledge, having previously built in the Science Park area, among other projects: Original Sokos Hotel Kupittaa, Turku University of Applied Sciences’ EduCity, Kupittaa Ball Hall, Veritas’ new headquarters, and ParkCity.
Laine explains that one of the project’s goals is to shape the area into an attractive and comfortable entity, a gateway to Turku.
“Helsinginkatu is the city’s main artery, but currently people often just drive past the Science Park via it. The goal of the project is to create a feeling in this part of the city that you have now arrived in Turku, and that the city centre starts here.”
Many still speak of the Kupittaan kärki partnership project as the Science Park or Kupittaa deck project, as a central part of the area’s development plans from the start has been to expand the Science Park from Kupittaa across the railway to Itäharju.
The entire alliance group is currently considering what the deck structure over Helsinginkatu and the railway will ultimately look like. Even though perceptions of the project are most often associated specifically with the deck, Laine says that maximizing its scale is not an end in itself.
The most important thing is to find the best ways to connect the current Science Park and Itäharju areas flexibly, and to ensure functional solutions for the needs of both the Taito campus and traffic.
The Taito campus rising in the area will in the future bring together students of the Turku Vocational Institute under one roof. The campus is the heart of the entire new area, around which the plan is built. In the future, the campus will have approximately students.
“Getting the new Vocational Institute campus in the Science Park brings more positive synergy to the entire area,” praises Laine.
Furthermore, the Science Park will become an even more significant transport hub in the future, as it will be the first station for the upcoming One-Hour Train when arriving from Helsinki. If the light rail project is realized, the Science Park will also become an important hub for internal city rail traffic. There are also several large parking garages in the area, and the selection is complemented by electric scooters, city bikes, and shared cars. The goal is for the Science Park to be a place that is easy to reach and where it is simple to transfer from one mode of transport to another.
The Kupittaan kärki partnership project is set to proceed rapidly, and construction is planned to begin at the turn of 2024–2025. Laine says that one of the key goals is to enable a fast and economical implementation of the project.
“I suspect that simultaneously with the alliance’s implementation, other projects will be started by the area’s landowners, so construction will begin at the same time from several directions and the area will quickly transform into something new.”
“It is also worth remembering that the area’s development will not stop here, but the Science Park will continue to grow in the coming years and decades. With this project, we must guarantee the prerequisites for that.”
Currently, the alliance parties are working on the preparation of the master plan and project plans. The parties meet by working an average of two days a week in shared premises in TriviumCity. From the office windows, there is a direct view of the area under planning.
“Trivium is an excellent place for our workspaces, because we can constantly mirror the plans against the actual view,” says Laine.
“Working with different actors is familiar from previous projects, but the alliance model offers us an even more open operating environment where we can together discuss everything related to the project. As the project commissioner, the City of Turku is strongly involved in the process and actively participates in daily work with the necessary expert resources,” Laine explains.
“In an open discussion environment, it is easier to express one’s viewpoint. All in all, the project is large and complex, and therefore the culture of openness is a really significant thing.”
YIT
Industry: YIT is the largest Finnish and a significant North European project developer and construction company
Established: 1910
Employees: Approximately 5,000
Revenue: €2.4 billion (2022)