We Land: a unique new office building coming to Helsinki’s Ruoholahti district, in step with changing needs and times

What if you heard that in the Ruoholahti district of Helsinki, there was a new site being built that was unmatched anywhere else in Finland ‒ a veritable queen of office spaces? The We Land building, developed by the construction firm NCC, will offer a unique working environment and range of services not seen anywhere else in the country, with a commitment to sustainability that draws in tenants and investors alike.

The We Land office building is already making history in a number of ways before even being completed. One factor is its unique standard of service, the likes of which no other new site in Finland can claim to offer.

"When we started designing We Land, it was the City of Helsinki's ambition to create something different from the traditional 8am-to-4pm office building. In the design phase, we listened to viewpoints from both companies interested in the office space and residents of the surrounding area. What people wanted in Ruoholahti was a more communal office building with an open structure", Sinan Imaditdin, Sales Manager at NCC, recalls.

”We Land gives coming to the office an advantage over staying at home”

With its novel open design, We Land bucks the traditional ”just an office” approach, opening its doors to the local city folk and livening up the surrounding scene. We Land is in step with the zeitgeist and trends of our time.

"Tenants always want to negotiate about square footage, and at the same time raise the standard of their space. We Land presents an attractive package of great location, quality spaces, and top-notch services. With companies wanting their employees to work on site, We Land gives coming to the office an advantage over staying at home”, Imaditdin says.

We Land, due to be completed in the summer of 2024, will have flexibly modifiable office spaces and will bring a new dynamism to the whole area. It will feature a cafe, a lunch restaurant, and another high-end restaurant on the top (14th) floor with accompanying sea views, to name just a few things.

”Charlie is like an assistant or building manager from earlier days”

We Land makes the average workday that much easier with its specialized, hotel-level service known as Charlie. Charlie goes well beyond your normal concierge service ‒ rather than just keeping a to-do list, Charlie's time is fully reserved for the office tenants.

The Charlie services are taken care of by competent professionals. There is a versatile range of high-quality services offered, allowing office employees to handle their varied everyday needs during the day from one convenient service counter.

"Charlie is a trustworthy factotum, like an assistant or building manager from earlier days. During the workday, he makes sure that the facilities are functioning properly, and that the customer and visitor experience is the best it can be. He can (for example) send congratulatory flowers to customers, order event tickets for the weekend, or schedule a car wash", Imaditdin describes.

The Charlie services are integrated with the We Land app, which places the building's entire range of services at the tenant's fingertips: to give just one example, you can use the app to check how crowded the restaurant is, and see whether it's better to take lunch at 11:45 AM or a quarter hour later.

”We Land is ahead of its time in sustainability”

We Land, whose development first began in 2019, is also ahead of its time in sustainability, a driving force of real estate development from the standpoint of both investor portfolios and tenants' choices. Following its completion, We Land will be submitted as a candidate for the top certification (Outstanding) of the BREEAM environmental rating system. We Land already achieved this goal for the project's planning phase, the first site in Finland to do so.

"An Outstanding ranking from BREEAM is still fairly rare, even internationally, but that just makes it all the more meaningful considering the draw the site will have as a result. Nowadays, sustainability isn't just something that interests office space tenants and investors ‒ it's a prerequisite", Imaditdin emphasizes.

"Investors and tenants are interested in high ESG ratings, which speak not only to the building itself but also to its location and the quality of transport access. These factors are also important to a company's brand, attractiveness, and recruitment efforts."

We Land's personalized façade is made of recycled and re-recyclable copper

"We Land and its environs are a place where you can spend a full day"

We Land is naturally linked to its neighboring surroundings, which include a number of new and recently commissioned sites. With the construction of We Land, the area is developing more and more into a pleasant city boulevard.

"Thanks to its central location, We Land will interest and attract other people than just those who work in it. We Land and its surrounding environs are a place where you can spend a full day comprising everything from work to working out, from leisure to high-end restaurant dining", Imaditdin says.

World-leading consultancy company Deloitte and cargo-handling solutions provider Cargotec are among the companies that have already chosen We Land for their headquarters. According to Imaditdin, the new site has drawn attention from organizations of many different sizes. Feedback from tenants and others interested in the space has been highly positive.

We Land: a top 10 list

1. Located in the Ruoholahti district, about a 400 m walk (less than 1500 feet) from the Helsinki metro station – part of the urban core of Helsinki
2. Offers a unique service experience – let Charlie exceed your expectations!
3. Versatile conference and event spaces
4. Dining options include a high-level dinner restaurant on the top floor with views of the sea, and a lunch restaurant and cafe
5. Postal package services included with the Charlie concierge service
6. 450 bicycle parking spaces, 120 of which have charging points for electrical bikes
7. 200 parking spaces for cars (sedans), 33 % of which are equipped for electric charging
8. Transport accessibility: metro, tram, bus, and light-traffic thoroughfares
9. Close to everything: shops, cafes, exercise spots and more
10. Sustainability: created with the aim of getting the top ranking (Outstanding) in the BREEAM environmental rating system ‒ a distinction that has already been achieved for the design phase of the project.

Read more about We Land.