THE UNBELIEVABLE CHALLENGE

Where

Oulu, Finland

Status

Concept

The international competition for young designers focused on the construction of a logistics hub in the city of Oulu, located in northern Finland. The challenge was fascinating, redeveloping and planning an area on the edge of the city, bordering vast forests of firs, currently clear, but that in the plan forecasts would be occupied by high-density industrial and logistics functions, finding a harmonious balance point with the natural context. The proposed intervention therefore starts from an overview. The area, which is well connected to the city center and which develops between two high-traffic roads is cut longitudinally by the railway, which in addition to representing a physical caesura is inevitably also a visual barrier. At the urban level, it was assumed to divide the district into transversal zones thanks to the use of vegetation, characterizing each lot with a local tree species. The goal was to reproduce the sensations of a wood, through light, transparency and the simplicity of the lines that leave the protagonist role in the vegetation. The intervention consists of five buildings, one for public spaces and offices, and the remaining for warehousing. The load-bearing structure consists of laminated wood pillars with a steel core and steel beams. The external coating is made of semi-transparent cellular polycarbonate extruded panels, anchored to an aluminum structure. This choice guarantees a particular semi-transparent effect between inside and outside as well as a great lightness and excellent values ​​of transmittance and refraction. You get a greenhouse containing public spaces (lobby, reception, lounge, restaurant) inside which are inserted wooden boxes and polycarbonate containing the different management functions. Each box has an autonomous heating and ventilation system, thus guaranteeing maximum flexibility of use and avoiding the useless waste of energy.