Cradle of Innovation
Team
WSP Group – Heatherwick Studios – B&M Architects – JK MM Architects – Space Syntax – Helsinki University – AA Palmberg Ltd – Pekka Himanen – Pauli Aalto-Setälä
Statement from project team
We have 3 main objectives:
- Create the replicable ‘DNA’ of a new Low2No carbon urbanism based on our ‘Helsinki Principles’
- Create an iconic architecture that has the power to excite and transform
- Promote ‘carbon positive’ citizens
The ‘Low2No cradle’ looks and feels different, creating a new kind of public space in Helsinki. The design is centred on the ‘market of ideas’; a vibrant urban foyer located at the heart of the family of buildings that comprise the development: seamlessly connected to Helsinki and the world.
The building should be iconic and exciting if is to help transition Helsinki and Finland towards a carbon-free society.
We have defined a new approach to sustaining carbon-free communities and lifestyles at the heart of the city; ranging from experimental roof-top urban farms to personalised web-accessed carbon portals, to IT smart communication and control systems, communal solar saunas and flexible and adaptable living / working spaces.
The building shows how solar technologies can be used in Nordic regions to generate all the electricity requirements from building integrated systems as well as using waste heat from Helsinki’s power stations, storing it underground in the summer and re-using it for space heating in the winter.
The ‘Low2No cradle’ is:
- Twice as efficient and uses half the energy of a typical building in Helsinki.
- Designed for the future: elements of the building will last for 500 years but be flexible enough to allow for multiple changes in use and building systems upgrades as social demographics and market conditions change.
- Designed to keep cool in a warming climate. High ceilings, narrow sections and thermal mass allow for natural cooling and ventilation; carbon free air- conditioning from endothermic roof mounted systems generate chilled water on hot summer nights for cooling the building during the day.
- ‘Smart’ and communicates energy, carbon and resource-use data direct to residents and the World; contributing to the knowledge economy.
- Replicable and scalable: a process framework methodology has been outlined with Low2No indicators for buildings, communities and the city, together with an overarching framework encapsulated in what we term the Helsinki Principles for Low2No urbanism.
If adopted across the metropolitan area, the Low2No Helsinki Principles will reduce overall emissions by 75% by 2050.
