Salmisaaren teollisuusalue (Sundholmens industriområde)

English translation (from the Finnish)

The text above is the record as published by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), in Finnish. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto); it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

The industrial landscape of Salmisaari is dominated by large-scale industrial heritage landmarks, of which the Kaapelitehdas and the Alko factory are also successful examples of the reuse of industrial premises.

The Kaapelitehdas, declared the largest building in the country on its completion, is the industrial architecture of a financially sound company that relied on traditional values. The oldest part of the building is U-shaped in plan, 7 and 5 storeys high. The Sea Cable Hall (3148 m² in area and over 13 metres high), the rolling mill, the drawing hall and the high-voltage hall are impressive former industrial spaces that have been taken into cultural use. In addition to performance, work and rehearsal spaces for artists from various fields, the factory houses, among others, art schools, museums, galleries and small businesses.

Oy Alko Ab's Salmisaari production building, comparable in size to the Kaapelitehdas, is one of the landmark buildings of modern industrial architecture. The functionalist industrial architecture of the red-brick group of buildings comprising the head office and the production and warehouse buildings is dominated by production and laboratory spaces. The office wing forms a gatehouse on the Porkkalankatu side. The head office is located on the sea side. The building houses the Helsingin oikeustalo, that is, the Helsingin käräjäoikeus, the Helsingin kihlakunnan syyttäjänvirasto and the Oikeuspalveluvirasto.

The red-brick power stations, which form part of the impressive industrial landscape of Salmisaari, consist of buildings from two different eras. The electricity power station building of Salmisaari A dates from the 1950s. It operates as a coal-fired standby power station, and its underground automated coal store is considered the world's first. Since 1984 Salmisaari B has been the main heat production unit of Salmisaari. Its rectangular building masses of varying heights are grouped into small parts to lighten the large industrial plant.

History

Salmisaari was designated an industrial area in the land use plan of the Pro Helsingfors general plan in 1918. Industrial and harbour planning ideas were realised after land reclamation: Salmisaari was filled in to join the mainland, while Jätkäsaari was formed in such a way that a narrow bay of the sea, Ruoholahti, remained between the two islands. The city bought Salmisaari from Julius Tallberg, and six factory plots were drawn into the town plan, two of which went to Julius Tallberg, one to Oy Alkoholiliike Ab, and the rest were leased. Construction was started by Oy Alkoholiliike Ab, which was founded in 1932 after the repeal of prohibition. The Kaapelitehdas was built immediately after the completion of Alko. The Ab Julius Tallberg Oy factory rose in the same group.

Suomen Kaapelitehdas Oy leased the plot on the seafront in order to have a direct loading facility for telephone sea cable from the Sea Cable Hall to ships. In 1939-1943 the first U-shaped part was built, in 1947-1948 the wing running parallel to Tallberginkatu, and in 1952-1954 the eastern end of the southern wing was extended. The architect W. G. Palmqvist, who acted as designer, was the go-to designer of many other industrial plants and communities in our country. The Kaapelitehdas achieved a monopoly position in cable production. Of the factory's new fields of activity begun around 1960, electronics grew rapidly and laid the foundation for the development of the domestic electronics and computer industry. After company mergers in 1967, the Kaapelitehdas became part of Oy Nokia Ab. In 1985 Nokia decided to end its operations in Salmisaari by 1990. The building, which was on leased land, passed into the ownership of the city, and its premises were gradually leased to artists and small businesses. The Kaapelitehdas passed into the ownership of Kiinteistö Oy Kaapeli in 1992. The shares of the company are owned by the City of Helsinki.

Oy Alkoholiliike Ab expanded the Rajamäki factory in 1935-1938 according to the plans of architect Erkki Huttunen, and built a spirits factory and a bottling plant for foreign products in the Salmisaari industrial area in Helsinki. Oy Alkoholiliike Ab bought a plot in the Salmisaari industrial area in 1934. In 1935 architect Pauli Blomstedt drew up a sketch for a warehouse and administration building; in 1935-1936 an architectural competition was held for a new production plant and central warehouse. The plans of architect Väinö Vähäkallio, the winner of the competition, were completed in 1940. The central part of the building was raised in 1959. The Alko buildings came into use by the Helsingin oikeustalo in 2004; the conversion was designed by Arkkitehtitoimisto Tuomo Siitonen Oy.

The first power station opened to meet the needs of district heating production by the electricity works of the City of Helsinki was Salmisaari A, completed in 1953. The brick electricity power station building of Salmisaari A is valued as the principal work of Hilding Ekelund's period as city architect. The architect Vera Rosendal took part in the design. A power station had been planned for Salmisaari as early as the early 1940s, but the decision to build was only made after the wars, in 1946. Salmisaari B was completed in 1984. It was designed by architect Timo Penttilä together with Heikki Saarela and Kari Lindi. Penttilä had also designed the Hanasaari power station, completed in 1976.

The properties are surrounded by new office, commercial and residential buildings erected on former industrial areas, whose construction began in the early 1990s.