Place: Helsinki, Finland
Team: MASU Planning (Main advisor / Landscape architect), in collaboration with City of Helsinki
Client: Municipality of Helsinki
Size: 4.5ha
Timeline: 2024 / Ongoing
Helsinki Central Station
The overall ambition is to create a new traffic hierarchy and a more cohesive urban environment that promotes safety, accessibility, and public spaces.
Around a quarter of a million people cross Kaivokatu daily, making it one of the busiest urban spaces in the Finnish capital. However, surveys indicate that the area is often perceived as noisy, rushed, unpleasant, and hard to navigate.
The main objectives of the development plan are to:
Create a more beautiful and representative entrance that will become a destination in its own right while connecting the area to its surroundings.
Implement green street surfaces and add trees to manage stormwater, lower temperatures during heatwaves, and reduce the strength of wind gusts.
Reduce traffic noise and pollution.
Provide ground-level businesses with spaces to utilize the street area.
Enhance the facade of the Ateneum National Gallery and bring art into the street space.
Ensure that crossing Kaivokatu is fast and effortless for pedestrians.
Streamline the tram system with an easily accessible terminal area.
Create a safe and smooth transit space for bicyclists.
Landmark Architecture
Helsinki Central Station is a landmark in Finnish architectural history, and the surrounding urban spaces are bordered by several iconic national buildings such as the National Theatre, the Ateneum Art Museum, and the former headquarters of the Finnish Post Office.
According to the time schedule most of the changes are expected to be implemented in the early 2030s.