Äänekoski bioproduct mill
is designed by UKI Arkkitehdit

The gigantic bioproduct mill of the Metsä Group in Äänekoski will be completed next autumn. The architectural design of the mill is created by UKI Arkkitehdit. Pentti Komulainen has been the chief designer and Kimmo Turpeenniemi has been the project manager – switching the chief designer and project manager roles in sub-projects when necessary.

The design of the mill has progressed by stages, and apart from the pair, it has employed 5-6 persons almost continuously at UKI Arkkitehdit, more than ten in the busiest times.

”It’s a huge site – like a small town. There are tens of different buildings and their total volume is millions of cubic metres. The scale of the new bioproduct mill is aptly illustrated by the fact that the old mill next to it could almost fit in its chip field”

Pentti Komulainen ponders.

UKI Arkkitehdit has strong experience in industrial architecture. The firm has designed quite a number of factories and power plants. For example, the pulp mill in Fray Bentos in Uruguay, Raahen Voima gas power plant at the SSAB steel mill in Raahe, Riikinneva eco power plant in Leppävirta, StoraEnson newspaper mill in Belgium and Laanila eco power plant owned by Oulun Energian have been created on its drawing tables.

According to Kimmo Turpeenniemi, designing industrial buildings is a science and art of its own. The scale of the buildings is big, cost pressures are considerable and the architectural design must be done on the terms of the production processes of the plants.

”In short, the key issue is that the buildings meet their technical requirements. And of course, the architect aspires to the best result also aesthetically”

Kimmo Turpeenniemi.

Building factories involves a vast number of different permits, and some of them apply also to architectural designers. As chief designers of the bioproduct mill, Pentti Komulainen and Kimmo Turpeenniemi ultimately contribute to controlling that the mill complies to the building permit, for example. There is regular contact with the building supervision authority in the project in a good spirit of cooperation