Expanding Helsinki Airport

The terminal expansion and design at Helsinki Airport are in a class of its own, in terms of both size and complexity.

“With the expansion, the surface area of the terminal has increased 45%--meaning we added 103,000 square metres. With our technical expertise, we invested in high-quality plans and cooperation for both the design and construction phases,” says Ramboll’s Project Director Hannu Nissinen.

The terminal expansion project is part of Helsinki Airport development programme. Includes an impressive new terminal with arrival and departure halls, public transport arrangements, and an extended Schengen gate area to be completed in 2023.

Development programme partners

The terminal expansion was conducted by an alliance including Finavia, SRV Construction, Ramboll, ALA Architects, and HPK Architects.

Ramboll, the main construction engineer for the project, was responsible for the structural design, infrastructure design, geotechnical design, heating and cooling, water, ventilation, electrical, automation, and traffic planning.

One of the greatest successes of this integrated project delivery was our efficient building-information-model-based collaboration between the stakeholders. "At almost all project meetings, the presentation material has included visualisations produced from data and combination models. These inform and engage stakeholders and decision-makers in future construction and operational development," Nissinen says.

Ramboll's experts also provided Finavia with consultancy services to improve the ecology of the extension's grounds and calculated the carbon footprint of the new building's life cycle.

Transport and infrastructure planning

As the terminal was in service throughout the entire renovation period, it was important to understand and plan out complex traffic arrangements, phasing worksite traffic arrangements, and designing infrastructure networks.

The terminal layout has undergone significant change, now with many new bridges, ramps, and vast deck structures. Underneath the area, water supply networks and hundreds of metres of other municipal network site infrastructure were planned.

Sustainability success story

The new part of the terminal extension is applying for a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) excellent-level environmental certification.