Reborn Valla offers a counterpoint to remote work
Located in Ruoholahti, Valla, previously Itämerentori 2, is the highest office building in central Helsinki. Its 21,000 m² of space will be remodelled to the needs of knowledge workers. At street level, the Atrium will be Valla’s pulsing heart. It houses a lobby area that does not pale in comparison to any hotel, a conference centre of pure technical perfection and an evergreen art garden. The upper floors of the property and the 70-metre tower are home to office spaces offering the perfect surroundings to concentrate on your work or hold meetings as well as an oasis of calm at the summit.
3D visualisations © Rune & Berg Design
"Our role was to define the soul and spatial strategy of the space, i.e. the way Valla will look, work and feel."
Jenni Herkama, Design Strategist, Rune & Berg Design
The real estate development project was carried out in cooperation with Exilion and Werklig, which was responsible for the brand design. We created Valla’s new spatial and service concepts, which feature heavily in Valla’s marketing. The site’s project design, including major structural modifications, will be implemented in 2025 on the basis of the specified concept.
A landmark and an experience for tenants and city dwellers
Ever since its completion in 2000, Valla has been a prominent feature in the streetscape of Ruoholahti. With the main tenant upping sticks, the project wanted to highlight the pull factors of the property and streamline the use of the premises. The goal of the project was to turn Valla into an experience hub and a counterpoint to the prevailing culture of remote work. The ambitious project will rejuvenate the streetscape of Ruoholahti and raise the profile of the entire area.
Highlighted by Valla's new concept:
- Activating residents: A more prominent part of Ruoholahti, the building has a ground floor open to all residents.
- Rentability of premises: Versatile, high-quality, 24/7 premises, clean-line aesthetic as a backdrop for the diversity of art and nature.
- Services: Self-managed, high-quality, curated services like in a 5-star hotel.
The unique services of Valla include the hotel-level lobby services as well as the art garden in the inner courtyard and the log sauna and jacuzzi on the roof.
Our concept encapsulates the services and façade concept of Valla as well as the locations of the premises inside the property. We’ve also created tenant templates to support the renting of offices. “The idea was to transform the summit of Valla and the Atrium into destinations that people will travel great distances to experience,” says Heidi Linkka, Design Strategist. For instance, the summit houses a real log sauna and a roof terrace. The property also includes exercise services for knowledge workers as well as a large garage with easy access directly from Länsiväylä. To provide the services at the required level, they’ll be managed by the “Valla Manager”, comparable to a hotel manager.
“For me, we did the right things in the project. It was great that there were several of us carefully considering the future goals and concept of Valla and that we managed to lock them in at once. For us, ideas are not in short supply, but we’d never have been able to come up with such a structured process or design the style of the property on our own,” says Ari Talja, CEO, Exilion, on the importance of the work from the client’s perspective.
Based on the new concept, the space with its sense of luminosity charms and captivates in equal measure. The natural elements and open vistas between series of premises invite you to enjoy yourself.
Spatial concept to polish a landmark of its time
So how will Valla look and feel in future? It will be transformed from a static monument to a memorable landmark. What this means in practice in terms of functionality is that, thanks to the incredibly intuitive placement of services from the users’ point of view, users are able to move effortlessly on the premises.
“Valla is easy to find because the new façade, and especially the stand-out entrance, will capture your attention. The new main corner entrance now provides easy access to the verdant service point, where you are met by a real human. After that, the space opens up, offering beautiful vistas of the Atrium and the office spaces on the higher floors,” says Design Strategist Jenni Herkama, describing the serene user experience achieved through spatial design.
The main entrance to the property was moved closer to the natural bypass. The street level is looking for restaurants open to all residents.
The concept also enabled Valla to be polished into a new sheen in terms of style and ambience. To complement the clean lines and high-grade materials originally designed by architect Pekka Helin, we’ve introduced unforgettable natural and artistic elements, with their roots in the environment of Ruoholahti.
“We were building on top of the existing quality architecture. For example, when designing the facelift of the façade, we took advantage of the property’s beautifully patinated Corten steel surface that was a novelty when the building was constructed. The idea behind the warm and verdant street level is to invigorate the office spaces overlooking the inner courtyard as well as the Ruoholahti streetscape and to make Valla a destination for tenants and residents at large,” says Jenni.
