UKI Arkkitehdit expands operation to metropolitan area – bought Arkkitehtitoimisto Arknova in Helsinki
Architectural firm UKI Arkkitehdit Oy from Oulu makes a stronger investment in entering the design market of the metropolitan area. With the newly concluded deal, the company has acquired possession of Arkkitehtitoimisto Arknova Oy, which has been operating in Helsinki for a long time. The deal is part of the strategy of the Oulu-based company to purposefully expand operations on the Oulu-Jyväskylä-Helsinki axis.
Managing director of UKI Arkkitehdit, Mikko Heikkinen, points out that the company has had an office in Jyväskylä for several years. His view is that acquiring Arknova from Helsinki is logical continuation to the implementation of the expansion plan.
”So far we have had design projects in the metropolitan area every now and then. We have not specifically searched for customers there, however. Now our goal with Arknova is to seek considerable growth in the big metropolitan area market”
says Mikko Heikkinen.
UKI Arkkitehdit has of course an old and strong connection with Helsinki through the founder of the firm, professor Uki Heikkinen. He took a degree in architecture at the University of Technology in 1938 and worked as designer at the planning department of Kulutusosuuskuntien Keskusliitto (Central Union of Consumer Cooperatives) in Helsinki till 1945. Uki Heikkinen’s perhaps most significant works in the city include several houses in Munkkiniemi and the buildings known as the gateway of Munkkiniemi.
Managing director Mikko Heikkinen considers that UKI Arkkitehdit and Arknova are firms with quite similar profiles, but their strengths nevertheless complement each other conveniently. Arknova’s managing director Pekka Jämsä shares this opinion.
”UKI Arkkitehdit brings us more capacity and knowhow in 3D design methods, for example. We in turn reinforce this collective with knowledge of the metropolitan area market, long-term customers and experience in designing buildings for rail traffic, for example”
says Pekka Jämsä.
After the business deal, Arknova continues operation in Helsinki under its previous name as a subsidiary of UKI Arkkitehdit.
The Oulu-based UKI Arkkitehdit Oy is an architectural firm which has been in operation already for almost sixty years and which currently employs over forty people. The firm is one of the biggest in its field. Also Arknova has long experience, almost forty-years, in diverse design projects. The firm employs four people.
More information
UKI Arkkitehdit Oy
Managing director Mikko Heikkinen
+358 50 305 5496
Arkkitehtitoimisto Arknova Oy
Managing director Pekka Jämsä
+358 40 555 4705