Ruoholahti is a business magnet – set sail or paddle to work

Located in the vicinity of Helsinki’s west harbour, Ruoholahti has grown and reached the ripe age of 30 years, and the development continues. Project Director Tuomo Sipilä even talks about the renaissance of Ruoholahti. NCC’s development project We Land adds a new dimension to the renowned workplace area.

– There’s a lot going on right now in Ruoholahti due to the complementary development. The area is being updated for the first time. The city planning still envisions Ruoholahti as business and office quarters, but apartments, too, will be brought to the area, Tuomo Sipilä says.

– Location is one of the greatest strengths and attractions of Ruoholahti. The City of Helsinki provides the vision for the area development, showing the way to go, but apart from that,  you need to be responsive to the changes taking place in the world.

We Land is just what is needed now

– COVID-19, war in Ukraine and energy crisis causing huge concerns all have an effect on the way we work today. A million-dollar question is, how to motivate the employees to return the office from remote work, and what that office even should be like, Sipilä contemplates.

Ruoholahti is evolving from a traditional office zone to all more classical a part of Helsinki’s central business district. NCC’s development project We Land is situated at a central spot, allowing the core of Ruoholahti to expand from the shopping centre and metro station to the west, towards Kaapelitehdas.

– Property developers play a big role in the area. It is the City’s task to provide the guidelines and enable the development. With its sustainability values and fine architecture, We Land will make Ruoholahti a lot more attractive, Sipilä says.

– We Land challenges the traditional “office only” vision offering a new-type open-house property, meaning its doors are also open to the local residents which revives the cityscape and brings new services to the area. It is just what is needed now.

Can you take the boat or paddle to work?

While the main focus in the development of Ruoholahti remains on workplaces and services, residential needs are not forgotten either. According to statistical data Ruoholahti about 3000 people live in Ruoholahti, but the neighbouring Jätkäsaari area even has 14,000 residents. The other neighbour, Hernesaari, is being planned with homes for over 7000 residents.

– There are about 15,000 workplaces in Ruoholahti, the number is five-fold as compared to the population. The City aims to turn Ruoholahti in the future into an area that becomes even more lively outside business hours, Sipilä establishes.

– The area is highly accessible as part of the central business district, thanks to the tram, metro and light traffic connections and parking services. It’s also worth remembering that one of Europe’s busiest harbours can be found in the vicinity.

One of Ruoholahti’s piquant features is that you can arrive at work even by boat or paddle board. The peaceful, green and lush Ruoholahti is, according to Sipilä, a great example of successful development work and mixed urban structure.

Cell phone invented in the neighbourhood

Finland’s largest cultural centre Kaapelitehdas with five hectares of rustic industrial milieu operates  in We Land’s neighbours in Ruoholahti since 1991. Kaapelitehdas has about 350 tenants, and approximately one thousand people work there on a regular basis.

– Kaapelitehdas includes actors like Tanssin talo (‘the house of dance’), several museums, circus and performance artists, galleries, studios, workshops, design firms, artisans, radio stations, boutiques, restaurants and cafés, Managing Director Kai Huotari of Kiinteistö Oy Kaapelitalo says.

Completed in 1954, Kaapelitehdas was Finland’s largest building of the time. In the heart of the building, cable was manufactured to be exported all around the world, and this is where the first super computer operated in Finland.

– We have a rich industrial history. Few people know that the cell phone was invented on the fifth floor of stair C. World’s first public library also operated at Kaapelitehdas, offering internet connections to customers, Huotari says.

– We are proud of our past, present and future. Kaapelitehdas will never be completed, it evolves all the time. Cultural services are an important empowerment for the city dwellers. We can offer everything to all. It is great that the area is further developed now, owing to We Land.

Culture and food, all you can eat

After its completion in 2024, We Land will offer workplaces and modifiable office spaces for present-day business needs, but also attract new life to the entire area with its restaurants, cafés, services and parking spaces and bicycle parking. We Land makes the workday go smoother with the aid of a concierge service tailored to the demands of working life, otherwise called Charlie.

– Charlie means in practice that there is a trusted person on the house to take care of matters, who runs errands for the employees. We Land lives even outside business hours, offering meeting places and leasable space where you can, for example, arrange exhibitions or yoga lessons, NCC Senior Property Developer Heikki Alén says.

The development project that was initiated in 2019 is ahead of its time. Sustainability lays the cornerstone of property development both in investor portfolios and tenant choices. The rising We Land is history in the making: last February, the project was awarded the highest environmental certificate Outstanding as the first project in Finland.

Feedback from the tenants and those interested in the premises have been praising according to Alén. No wonder, since the evolving Ruoholahti and We Land offer a unique entirety between Kaapelitehdas and the Ruoholahti shopping centre.

Why Ruoholahti – Top 5?

• Easily accessible – metro, tram, light traffic routes, parking services
• Well-located – in Helsinki’s central business district
• Next to everything – central railway station two metro stops away
• Lots of services – shops, cafés, restaurants and culture
• We Land – the new dimension of Ruoholahti