Helsinki is redeveloping its former port area into residential neighborhoods. One key site is the Jätkäsaari district, adjacent to the city center. This 100-hectare area was once an abandoned cargo port and dock. Upon completion, it will provide housing for 21,000 residents and workspace for 6,000 people.
Due to the high costs of building underground parking spaces below sea level, and to reduce roadside parking, the city commissioned a series of above-ground parking facilities to serve the community’s needs.
The new Saukonlaituri parking facility features a pentagonal, five-story design, accommodating 600 private vehicles across six traffic lanes. At its center, a courtyard is landscaped with boulders, moss, and ferns. Five parking areas are covered, while the sixth is located on the roof.
This courtyard serves multiple purposes: it acts as a light well, allowing sunlight to reach the lower levels, and functions as a reservoir for rainwater and snow accumulation. On the building’s south side, the structure steps back from the entrance plaza, extending the ground-level public space into a terraced park that reaches the rooftop.
This design enables residents from nearby apartments to walk up stairs directly to their parking level, avoiding elevators. The stairway area also doubles as a place for picnics and sunbathing.
The parking structure’s load-bearing framework is constructed from cast-in-place concrete. Its façade consists of prefabricated panels made from large hollow ceramic profiles framed in galvanized steel.
The natural, unglazed ceramic strips offer a soft color palette that harmonizes with the surrounding brick buildings. The sand-colored scheme, lime grass, and dune-like terraces draw inspiration from the former island of Saukko, which vanished due to land reclamation, now remembered only through local street names.
This terraced design also visually reduces the apparent size of the nearly 20,000 square meter parking facility.
Besides serving as a parking facility and offering electric vehicle charging stations, Saukonlaituri also houses a private repair company and a workshop dedicated to Helsinki housing company HEKA.
Completed in 2020, the project was designed by ALA Architects, who are currently developing a slightly smaller parking facility, Melkinlaituri, within the same district.
Project Drawings
△ General Layout Plan
△ First Floor Plan
△ Second Floor Plan
△ Third Floor Plan
△ Fourth Floor Plan
△ Fifth Floor Plan
△ Sixth Floor Plan
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Section Diagram
Project Information
Architect: ALA Architects
Area: 19,700 m²
Project Year: 2020
Photographers: Tuomas Uusheimo, Marc Goodwin | Archmosspheres
Lead Architects: Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Samuli Woolston
Architectural Design Team: Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Samuli Woolston, Pekka Tainio, Tuulikki Tanska, Rachel Murray, Anssi Luodemäki, Harri Humppi
HVAC: Vahvacon
Structural Engineer: AFRY Finland
Project Management: Jones Lang LaSalle Finland
Main Contractor: SRV Construction
Mechanical and Electrical Engineer: Sitowise
Geological Engineer: Sipti Infra Oy
Transportation Design: WSP Finland
Fire Safety: KK Finconsult
Landscape Design: Roslings Manor Gardens
Visualization: VIZarch
Location: Helsinki, Finland
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