In the Kokkola Sports park alliance, Ramboll Finland is responsible for structural engineering

The Kok­kola Sports Park Alliance started its work at the end of March 2022. In the first phase, the con­tent and imple­men­ta­tion of the sports park complex are planned, and the target cost and imple­men­ta­tion plan with time­table are defined. On the basis of this work, a deci­sion will be taken to move on to the imple­men­ta­tion phase. In the Alliance, Ram­boll Fin­land Oy is res­pon­sible for struc­tural engi­nee­ring.

What is your role in the Kok­kola Sports Park Alliance?  

My role in the Kok­kola Sports Park Alliance is to be res­pon­sible for the struc­tural design and to be the key person in this area and lead the struc­tural engi­nee­ring team.

I would also like to high­light the com­pany I repre­sent. Ram­boll Fin­land is one of the lar­gest engi­nee­ring con­sul­tancies ope­ra­ting in Fin­land. Ram­boll is a mul­ti­discipli­nary com­pany. It pro­vides engi­nee­ring and con­sul­tancy ser­vices for both con­struc­tion and the envi­ron­ment. Ram­boll’s values sup­port inno­va­tive and visio­nary engi­nee­ring for sus­tai­nable deve­lop­ment. (www.ramboll.fi)

Our exper­tise in sports venue con­struc­tion and related tech­nical know-how is strong. Examples include the Sei­nä­joki foot­ball sta­dium, which has been praised speci­fically for its func­tio­na­lity, and the recent reno­va­tion of the Vaasa indoor ice hockey arena and the struc­tural design of the associated trai­ning rinks. In addi­tion, Ram­boll pro­vided engi­nee­ring ser­vices for the con­struc­tion of the Nokia Areena in Tam­pere.

I am a veteran designer. I have been involved in various con­struc­tion engi­nee­ring pro­jects for about 40 years. My career started at a Hel­sinki-based engi­nee­ring firm in the early 80s. However, being born and raised in Ala­järvi, I felt Ostro­bothnia was the right place for me. From the mid-80s onwards, I ran my own engi­nee­ring firm until we became part of Ram­boll in 2016. I’ve been involved in the design and imple­men­ta­tion of a wide range of con­struc­tion pro­jects. They include several ice rinks and sports venues.

I’m a designer at heart, which means I like to take on chal­lenges and develop new things. One of my design team’s gui­de­lines is that you should regu­larly ques­tion your designs, ensure that you have accounted for eve­ryt­hing and ask your­self whether you can do better.

Fin­land has a cer­ti­fica­tion system for desig­ners, FISE, which awards per­sonal qua­li­fica­tions in various fields of engi­nee­ring. My cer­ti­fica­tion grade is PV (Excep­tio­nally Dif­ficult).

How do you like the alliance model?  

I think the alliance model is a good way to build just such multi-pur­pose buil­dings. An alliance con­struc­tion pro­ject involves the res­pon­si­bi­lity of all key par­ties: the client, the desig­ners and the cont­ractor. Eve­ry­body takes part in the design and con­struc­tion. The model is cha­rac­te­rised by the sha­ring of risks and oppor­tu­ni­ties. Already in the design stage, pro­ject deve­lop­ment draws on the exper­tise and skills of all those involved.

I have been involved in alliance pro­jects before. In the Hel­sinki Air­port Alliance, I was res­pon­sible for the struc­tural design of a new railway sta­tion for the Ring Rail Line. In the Vaasa Central Hos­pital buil­ding pro­ject, I was involved in super­vi­sing our team of struc­tural engi­neers and was a deputy member of the Alliance’s stee­ring group.

Our team spirit in the Kok­kola Sports Park Alliance is excel­lent. The whole team seems to be highly moti­vated and very ent­husiastic about the pro­ject. This is also reflected in the works­hops. Eve­ry­body is eager to push and develop the pro­ject. Experts from many fields have come together and it is impor­tant for all of us to achieve the best pos­sible outcome.

How is the alliance model dif­fe­rent from your pre­vious pro­jects?  

The alliance model dif­fers from a tra­di­tional con­struc­tion pro­ject in that the client, the desig­ners and the cont­ractor are all involved in deve­lo­ping the pro­ject together right from the start. All work in close coo­pe­ra­tion. In the tra­di­tional model, work is done more sepa­ra­tely, each wor­king on their own area of res­pon­si­bi­lity. Both ways have their advan­tages. In my opi­nion, the alliance model is par­ticu­larly sui­table for pro­jects that require mul­ti­faceted deve­lop­ment, such as the Kok­kola Sports Park pro­ject.

Have you faced any chal­lenges?  

In any pro­ject, there are always chal­lenges. Some of them are easy to resolve, and some are more dif­ficult. I’m sure there will be many more chal­lenges to be solved in this pro­ject. We will work together to solve them. The cur­rent world situa­tion and rising con­struc­tion costs pose their own chal­lenges.

It is clear that in con­struc­tion pro­jects there are always tech­nical chal­lenges. We work to solve them, and that’s what we get paid for.

We have a motto: always com­pare the options. Do not neces­sa­rily choose the first alter­na­tive. You need to find and choose the best option.

Ram­boll also has an office here in Kok­kola, right?

That’s cor­rect. We ope­rate in several loca­tions in Fin­land and have several offices here in Ostro­bothnia, too. In Sei­nä­joki, Vaasa and Kok­kola, to be precise. At the moment, ours is the big­gest office on the Sei­nä­joki-Kok­kola-Vaasa axis. In Kok­kola, we do a lot of envi­ron­mental and infra­struc­ture engi­nee­ring, for example.  Ram­boll as a whole has a diverse range of exper­tise nationwide, but we also have a strong local pre­sence here in the low­lands. In fact, we could use more ent­husiastic and skilled struc­tural desig­ners here in the Kok­kola office.