Minister of Development and Trade of Finland Ville Skinnari visited the UKI office

The Minister of Development and Trade of Finland Ville Skinnari received a solid package of information regarding North Finnish Construction Cluster’s international visions and the user-driven design method VALO™ during his visit at the UKI Arkkitehdit office building in Oulu. The visit on 29th of August 2019 was hosted by UKI Arkkitehdit’s CEO Mikko Heikkinen.

Heikkinen says that North Finnish Construction Cluster – in which there is a large group of professionals from the construction field – has collaborated with corresponding cluster of the Northern Norway to gain foothold in the area’s most significant projects.

“Our expertise is sufficient. We have progressed further with utilizing building information models as a working tool in the design progress than Norway has.”

Mikko Heikkinen, CEO of UKI Arkkitehdit

On his behalf as The Minister of Development and Trade of Finland, Skinnari encouraged the northern companies in their endeavors to Norway and Sweden. At the same time he reminded us of the importance of wider markets.

“We have to be able to build large entities in Finland, which we can export in global markets. We must provide products that can be scaled and duplicated according to the clients’ needs.”

Ville Skinnari, The Minister of Development and Trade of Finland

VALO’s mission as a successful product

A good example of the said product is the user-driven design method VALO™ designed by UKI Arkkitehdit which is used in a virtual space built by Collaprime Oy. Our company has already used the method successfully in the design of fifteen large projects. Skinnari got to experience the VALO™ method in the virtual space at UKI Arkkitehdit office when the CEO Mikko Heikkinen took him on a virtual visit to the soon to be completed Chydenius school in Kokkola.

UKI Arkkitehdit use three-dimensional virtual models in natural scale for so called usability walks which provide the future users a possibility to walk around instructed in the designed spaces and work alongside with the architect.

“The method makes designing more interactive between the user and designer and assists us to design optimal spaces for the user’s need”, Heikkinen clarifies.

Skinnari saw the possibilities of the virtual modeling to develop into an internationally successful product – as long as it can be made into a compelling product.

“I’m impressed by the great atmosphere between the different operators in Oulu. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs for Finland can provide versatile help for the companies’ business export endeavours”, Skinnari reminded.