Itäkeskus landmark is one of Erkki Kairamo’s most important works and a high-rise officebuilding milestone. We were commissioned to act as the principal designers for the modification of the building from office-use to apartments.

Itäkeskus landmark is not a protected building but its architectural merits and value in the cityscape are indisputable. Therefore the basis for the design process was to preserve the facade as far as possible. The modification for residential use required some changes and the strip windows were lowered 20 centimeters.

The floorplan gave quite a good starting point for planning apartments. The distance between the stiffening middle part and outer walls was such that the apartment solution was found very naturally. The solution allowed both for versatile openings from the apartments, and for lateral inner views. It wasn’t seen as a good choice to locate the common utility rooms in the apartment floors. A new storage and utility building was built with a distinct architectural look that differentiates it from the high-rise. Saunas and a playground are located on the roof of the storage and utility building.

The building is completely sprinklered. The modification from office-use to apartments meant extensive changes to fire compartmentations which was quite challenging especially with the aim of preserving the facade.

The building was finished 2015.