Lyyra selected as winner of Tekla BIM Awards Finland 2023

The winner of this year’s competition, the Lyyra quarter, built by the Ylva Group of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki, is a very impressive project. The placement of the three buildings in the city centre required careful coordination between the design and the demanding built environment. Several sketches of the building were made to accommodate the complex geometry and logistics needs. 

Information model matching and coordination was an essential part of the design process, say the design team members. Tom Cederqvist, Juhani Suikki, Unnu Vaara, Pirkko Laitinen, Ari Sahlman, together with the information model coordinator and other designers, were responsible for coordinating the different aspects of the project.

From the Tekla press release:

“A special feature of the design was that the building element supplier, Peikko, was within the Tekla Model Sharing model in another organisation’s model. The information models are also used to support the leasing process and to communicate with various stakeholders, and finally the information model is handed over to the property management. The project aimed to achieve the shortest possible lead time, which is why it used methods such as takt production and lean methods. 

The site was in the middle of the city centre, which made logistics challenging. Deliveries were handled through intermediate warehouses and materials were brought to the site only as needed. Laser scanning data has been used not only as a starting point for the design, but also on site for comparison with the information model. The project involved a great deal of scanning of the metro structures and excavations to ensure the safe construction of the building without disrupting metro traffic. All parties on the site had access to up-to-date detailed designs and information models on their mobile devices.

The equality and inclusion of the staff involved in the implementation has been exemplary. A good example of this is the Lyyra Inclusive Construction Site 2019 project. Sustainability was taken into account from the very beginning of the project, and the project has applied for Leed Platinum and Well certification. Technical building services solutions were designed to improve energy recycling, and the cooling and heating needs were optimised with energy simulations using information models. The recycling rate of construction waste on site was 95%.”

The project’s BIM coordinator, Tero Pulkkinen:

“This hybrid project with several different functions has brought many levels of detail to the design coordination. For commercial spaces, the plans present a wide range of challenges that the residential and office sections have not had to address. A particular feature of the project has been the integration with the existing metro facilities, with routes for the metro extract air channels being built to the roof throughout the building.

From a BIM coordination point of view, the project has been challenging due to the low floor height. Although this is new construction, the floor heights are e.g. 3,000 mm for apartments, 3,300 mm for the hotel and 3,600 mm for commercial floors. This has meant a careful coordination of the technical building services installations and several meetings between all the design disciplines. 

Information models are used to help the designers communicate on the project. Through BIM-based collaboration, the plans were coordinated in a timely manner. The time spent on site installing technical building services components is substantially reduced when all installations are done correctly at once, saving demolition work due to incorrect installations. The combination model was also used to help contractors plan their work and installation order. On a modern construction site, information models play an important role in keeping construction on schedule.” Tero Pulkkinen, ARCO Architecture Company

The Tekla BIM Awards Finland competition is held annually and recognise the best construction projects using modelled data. The best projects from the 2023 and 2024 regional competitions are entered into the biennial Tekla Global BIM Awards competition. The jury of the 2024 competition included Janne Tähtikunnas (RIL), Timo Koivisto (Teräsrakenneyhdistys), Timo Lehtoviita (LAB University of Applied Sciences), Tapio Kivistö (Rakennuslehti) and Jukka Suomi (Trimble).