SuvelaSURGE

LATEST NEWS

October 25th 2011:

The Special Forum 3: SuvelaSURGE, International Student Idea&Design Competition for Sustainable Neighbourhood Regeneration in Espoo, Finland,  took place on Tuesday 18th October according to the following programme.The Forum was live webcasted and followed in different countries. In an effort to channel the participation of the audience, inside and outside the Main Hall, SB11 Helsinki provided the possibility of sending comments and questions through SMS. For those who were not able to watch it live, here is the videolink to the whole Forum and some pictures.

During the second half of the Forum, the winners of SuvelaSURGE International Student Competition were announced and, after Pekka Huovila, the Chair of SB11 Helsinki International Scientific Committee and President of the Jury, gave them their awards, the teams presented their proposals for the sustainable regeneration of Suvela to the audience. For more information, please click on each of the images below to download the files of the awarded proposals.

FIRST PRIZE - 5.000 €

Proposal AL 232 - University of Oulu and Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland

Authors:
Sanni Kemppainen (Team Leader), Faculty of Technology (Architecture), University of Oulu
Hanna Kosunen, Faculty of Technology (Architecture), University of Oulu
Tanya Anthony, Faculty of Technology (Architecture), University of Oulu
Annalinda Günther, Faculty of Natural Resources and the Environment (Landscape Planning), Oulu University of Applied Sciences
Jani Leinonen, Faculty of Technology (Mechanical Engineering), University of Oulu
Eveliina Oinonen, Faculty of Natural Resources and the Environment (Landscape Planning), Oulu University of Applied Sciences 

Co-ordinating teacher:
Hennu Kjisik, Faculty of Technology (Architecture), University of Oulu

INNOVATION PRIZE - 2.000 €

Proposal JS 028 - Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Authors:
James Grieve (Team Leader), School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast
Jamie Agnew, School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast
Sean McCann, School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast
Raymond Kinnaird, School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast
David Power, School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast

Co-ordinating teacher:
Keith MacAllister, School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast

HONORABLE MENTION - 1.000 €

Proposal OZ 760 - Aalto University and University of Helsinki, Finland

Authors:
Olli Jokinen (Team Leader), School of Science and Technology (Real State Economics), Aalto University
Anssi Lauttia, School of Science and Technology (Forest Products Technology), Aalto University
Sara Lukkarinen, School of Science and Technology (Transportation and Environmental Engineering), Aalto University
Mirja Puoskari, School of Science and Technology (Architecture), Aalto University
Tuomo Sipilä, Faculty of Social Sciences (Sociology), University of Helsinki
Inari Virkkala, School of Science and Technology (Architecture), Aalto University

Co-ordinating teacher:
Ilona Mansikka, School of Science and Technology (Architecture), Aalto University

As announced earlier, all the submitted proposals were displayed during SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference. To have a look at the slideshow containing all the proposals, please go here. You can also download here the "Background information and results" report where you can find a summary of the competition process , and also the Final report of the Jury.

The competitions organizers are very satisfied, not only with the results of the competition itself, but also with the positive feedback received on the Special Forum 3: SuvelaSURGE. This encourages us to try to develop further some of the concepts introduced for this competition and opens interesting possibilities for the future. Thank you all for your support!

September 15th 2011:

The 2nd meeting of the Jury of SuvelaSURGE International Student Competition took place in Helsinki on 1st September 2011 and the winners have been decided. Again, thanks to the teams for their participation and for the hard work! We hope this has been an enjoyable experience for the participants and that they have learnt something valuable during the process.

As mentioned before, all the proposals will be displayed during the SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference that will take place from 18th to 21st of October 2011 in Helsinki, Finland. The conference proceedings that will be given to all the delegates will include all the submitted proposals.

The winners will be publicly announced during the International Student Competition Special Forum that will take place on 18th October 2011, from 16.00 to 17.30, as part of the offcial programme of the conference (/media/programme-at-a-glance_sessions) . More details will be available soon.

Hand in hand with the desire to encourage the participation of young generations in SB11 Helsinki, the organizers of SuvelaSURGE International Student Competition have invited Arkki, School of Architecture for Children and Youth, to join. We are looking forward to seeing the children's ideas for Suvela!

September 5th 2011:

Click here to read an interview with Martha Herrera González, Director of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility for CEMEX Mexico and CEMEX-Tecnológico de Monterrey Center for Sustainable Community Development.

June 22nd 2011:

The 1st meeting of the Jury of SuvelaSURGE International Student Competition took place in Helsinki on 22nd June 2011 and the finalists were decided. The Jury was very excited about the high quality of the proposals submitted!

Thanks to the teams for their participation and for the hard work! It has been very rewarding to see the implication of young generations in these important issues. There were interesting ideas to be found in each proposal. These are very inspiring for the City of Espoo when envisioning the future of Suvela.

All the proposals will be displayed during the SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference that will take place from 18th to 21st of October 2011 in Helsinki, Finland. In addition, an International Student Competition Special Session will be organized as part of the official programme of the conference to present the proposals submitted and discuss other related issues.

Congratulations to the finalists and good luck for the next round!

June 16th 2011:

Submission of proposals is now closed. Over 60 ideas from 14 countries around the world have been submitted for Suvela! After a very stimulating process of exchange of information and ideas between the competition organizers and the participating teams, the proposals are now ready to be evaluated by the Jury.
 
Formed by a group of professional experts in different areas related to the sustainable built environment, from Finland and abroad, the Jury will hold two meetings to select the SuvelaSURGE competition winning proposals.

For more information see the pressrelease.

Page Content:

1. Home
2. News
3. Competition video
4. Competition rules
5. Schedule
6. Questions & Answers
7. Registration + Submission
8. Jury
9. Interviews
10. Awards
11. Downloads
12. Contact
13. Press

1 HOME

Suvela district lies next to Espoo Centre, one of the five suburban centres within the City of Espoo, Finland. The International Student Idea & Design Competition SuvelaSURGE aims at generating tools for rapid and ambitious regeneration and redevelopment of a neighbourhood with a history of social housing and poor image.

The competition is part of the programme of activities associated to the SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference, and is intended for multidisciplinary working teams.

Submitted ideas will be assessed against sustainability (social, economic and environmental) criteria and executability, life-cycle and innovation value.

All the proposals will be displayed during the SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference, to be held from 18th to 21st October 2011 in Helsinki, Finland.

In addition, an International Student Competition Special Session will be organized as part of the official programme of the SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference to present the proposals submitted and discuss other related issues. Please, check for more details when the programme is available on the conference website, www.sb11.org/

2 NEWS

June 5th 2011:

The competition document submission is closed! 

May 31st 2011:

The deadline of competition document submission is in the 5th of June at 12:00 noon GMT

May 10th 2011:

New extra material published in the Blog Extras

+ Q&A´s updated in the competition blog

May 5th 2011:

Q&A´s updated in the competition blog

April 27th 2011:

Spring has come to Suvela! Please, have a look at the new pictures.

April 21st 2011:

Rainer Mahlamäki´s interview is now published in the interviews section.

April 18th 2011:

The Q&A´s from the second round are now uodated and a map of the new parish center and the chapel is published in the Extras.

April 14th 2011:

Sakari Toikkanen´s interview is now published in the interviews section.

April 12th 2011:

Answers from the second Q&A´s round published in http://suvelasurge.blogspot.com/

April 7th 2011:

Please read the interviews of SuvelaSURGE Jury members Arja Lukin and Sebastià Jornet from the interviews section. Interviews and competition extra material also available from the competition Blog

April 7th 2011:

The map of Suvela borders published in Blog Extras 

March 31st 2011:

More extra material published on http://suvelasurge.blogspot.com including Kirstintie traffic and Suvela automobile accidents.

March 14th 2011:

The SuvelaSURGE promotion video is now published! To watch the video on Youtube click here. Useful extra material for contestants published on http://www.suvelasurge.blogspot.com/

March 4th 2011:

The registration to the competition is closed!  More than 50 teams registered to the competition. See the map where the contestants come from.

February 15th 2011: 

The members of the Jury for the International Student Idea & Design Competition for Sustainable Neighbourhood Regeneration, SuvelaSURGE, have just been announced! Please see below from The Jury for more information

December 15th 2010:

International Student Idea & Design Competition for Sustainable Neighbourhood Regeneration, SuvelaSURGE, is now open! The competition is part of the programme of activities associated to SB11 Helsinki.

3 COMPETITION VIDEO

Watch the competition video here 

4 COMPETITION RULES

 Downloadable in PDF from here

5 SCHEDULE

Proposals displayed at SB11 Helsinki Conference 18-21 October 2011

All deadlines end at 12.00h noon GMT.

6 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

A Blogspot group has been opened for communication between the participating teams, and between the teams and the organizers. A team may ask any questions or even propose a thread on any issue related to the competition. Other teams are encouraged to comment, develop the topic further or simply answer it based on their own understanding.

The first Q&A round is closed! Find all the answers from the competition blog at suvelasurge.blogspot.com

7 REGISTRATION + SUBMISSION

The registration is closed!

The competition document submission is closed!

Competition document must be submitted on provided competition template. Template is available on downloads on this page. Deadline for competition document submission is 5th of June 2011.

Please read the competition rules carefully before submitting the competition document.

8 JURY

The Jury consists of a group of professional experts, from Finland and abroad, in which some of the most important Finnish institutions are represented.

SuvelaSURGE Jury*:

Pekka Huovila (President of the Jury)

Chair of the SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference International Scientific Committee, VTT

Ossi Keränen (Vice President of the Jury)

City Planning Manager, City of Espoo

Arja Lukin

Deputy City Architect, City of Espoo

Seppo Kallio

CEO of Espoonkruunu Oy, City of Espoo

Juulia Kauste

Director, Museum of Finnish Architecture

Sakari Toikkanen

Senior Vice President, Business Development, YIT Oy

TEKES Sustainable Community Programme Steering Group

Aila Korpivaara

Building Counsellor of the Living Environment, Ministry of the Environment

Virpi Mikkonen

Programme Manager, TEKES Sustainable Community Programme

Rainer Mahlamäki

President, Finnish Association of Architects SAFA

Teemu Vehmaskoski

Development Director, Finnish Association of Civil Engineers RIL

Sebastià Jornet

Jornet Llop Pastor, Spain

Professor at the School of Architecture of Barcelona

Spanish National Prize of Urbanism 2006, European Prize of Urbanism 2010

Carmen Antuña (Secretary of the Jury)

SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference Secretariat, VTT

 _{*Disclaimer:  The organization of the SuvelaSURGE International Student Competition reserves the right to modify without notice the composition of the Jury due to reasons beyond its control.}

9 INTERVIEWS

Please, read here the interview with Martha Herrera González, Director of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility for CEMEX Mexico and CEMEX-Tecnológico de Monterrey Center for Sustainable Community Development. As part of its activities, the center has launched the CEMEX-TEC Transforming Communities Award, an annual recognition of research and development of high impact sustainable development projects and initiatives that foster economic growth, technology transfer, social involvement of communities, and preservation of natural resources in Mexico. The winning team of this year's edition will be awarded with a trip to Finland to attend the SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference, where they will take part in the International Student Competition Special Forum.

For more information, click on the picture to download Martha Herrera González's bio in PDF.

Martha Herrera González

SuvelaSURGE: How and why was the CEMEX - Tecnológico de Monterrey Centre for Sustainable Community Development created?

Martha Herrera: The Centre was founded in 2010 by two institutions of great tradition in Mexico: CEMEX and Tecnológico de Monterrey. Throughout their history, both organizations have been committed to social responsibility and the promotion of programs that quite contribute to improve the quality of life of Mexican communities, especially the most disadvantaged ones, the base of the pyramid. Through the CEMEX-Tecnológico de Monterrey Centre, we do research to find different ways to contribute to Mexico's sustainable development by promoting joint and interdisciplinary work between the private, public and academic sectors and creating innovative solutions to the diverse problems in our communities.

SuvelaSURGE: What are the most urgent problems to be faced by Mexican communities in terms of sustainable development?

Martha Herrera: As in most developing countries, communities face the most basic problems, such as water and energy supply, drainage, basic and higher education, inadequate or insufficient infrastructure, the careless exploitation of natural resources, etc.

Most of these problems can be solved by the joint work with the civil society, the private industry, the academic sector and the NGOs. Together, their work can begin to change Mexico´s communities and provide a promising outlook for Mexicans. One point remains clear: sustainable development must be a priority.

SuvelaSURGE: Within the context of the Centre's activities, what's the main objective of the CEMEX-TEC Transforming Communities Award?

Martha Herrera: Because of their own nature, universities are the ideal space for creating ideas coming from different fields and perspectives that develop into solutions to real problems. To foster a culture of sustainability amongst the future country leaders, the CEMEX-TEC Transforming Communities Award opened in 2011 to the student network of Tecnológico de Monterrey.

The Award recognizes and stimulates the development of exemplary projects that represent a considerable impact in terms of sustainable development, that boost economic growth, technologic transference, the social involvement of the communities and the preservation of natural resources.

The Award has a national reach and is meant for the public, private and academic sectors as to promote the creation of innovative solutions that stimulate the development of communities and guarantee a better quality of life for the civil society.

SuvelaSURGE: The winning team of this year's edition will be awarded with a trip to Finland to attend the SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference, and they will participate in the Student Competition Special Session that will be organized as part of the official programme. How do you see this opportunity? What does it mean for the students?

Martha Herrera: We believe that the opportunity to attend SB11 will challenge and encourage students. Furthermore, they will have the chance to meet students from other countries, exchange ideas about sustainable development and present their proposals and at the time they compare them with others.

We are sure that this experience will enrich the students, open their minds and foster new ideas that have the potential to become great projects that could even change the outlook we now know. After all, travelling and meeting new people with similar interests can only broaden one's knowledge.

SuvelaSURGE: Is there any similarity between the Mexican and the Finnish competition?

Martha Herrera: The International Student Idea & Design Competition SUVELA SURGE aims at generating tools for rapid and ambitious regeneration and redevelopment of a neighborhood with a history of social housing and poor image. They evaluate projects based on the principles of sustainability (social, economic and environmental), which we also do.

I would say that the main difference between the two competitions is the origin: we talk about base-of-the-pyramid communities in a developing country, while you are now focusing on Suvela exclusively.

Of course, we were delighted to find such a similar competition in a country so far away and so different in many ways. This only speaks of the utmost urgency to think and act sustainable into the future as a global community.

SuvelaSURGE: The Centre will have an exhibition stand at SB11 Helsinki Conference. What will you show there? What do you expect from SB11 Helsinki?

Martha Herrera: We are eager to exchange experiences with other countries and organizations that work to promote the sustainable development of communities around the world. We firmly believe in the never ending process of learning from everyone and everything.

Along the line of sustainability, we understand that we can't reach our goals working by ourselves, locally, but we do know that we need to work globally. This means getting to know other projects, other people and other ideas and concepts that we can use in Mexico. Of course, we also want to explain and talk about what we have learned to others. We are constantly seeking for new ideas, new synergies and best practices from which we can learn. Our final goal in Helsinki is to learn, share our ideas and experiences.

Please read here the interesting insights into sustainable urban regeneration and the possibilities of the competition given by some members of the SuvelaSURGE Jury. For more information, click on each picture to download the members' bio in PDF.    
  

  Arja Lukin                      Sebastià Jornet

 Sakari Toikkanen        Rainer Mahlamäki

SuvelaSURGE: How important is the sustainability today as a part of your field?

Arja Lukin: It is one of the biggest coming issues in design and construction. Buildings consume a very significant amount of energy, and controlling that is a key factor in slowing down climate change. Controlling consumption in old buildings is especially important.

What is important to understand is that sustainability is not just an issue of energy efficiency. One needs to be aware of its various aspects, even down to the quality of life itself.

Finland has agreed to only build nearly zero-energy houses by 2017. This is a huge challenge, as projects for public buildings often take at least five years, and the increased design and building costs should already be budgeted. Also, within every single building project, the tight energy efficiency requirements should be observed when setting the project goals.

Sebastià Jornet: It has been a long time since the Brundtland Report (1987), which defined sustainable development as meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. And this declaration also stated that sustainability should address in a balanced way the three pillars of the new urbanism: economic, social and ecological. The work of our office, at different scales of design, aims to develop precisely with this view, complex and multifaceted urban planning, in which the proposals, as far as possible, become options of feasibility and potential reality to set a new socially egalitarian urban life, designing viable and economically sustainable processes, and establishing committed and environmentally friendly models of intervention.

Sakari Toikkanen: The importance of sustainable construction is growing all the time. Clearly, sustainable and responsible operational principles spread and the demand is growing throughout. The need for sustainability comes from three sources: 1) the investors look at companies’ responsibility, 2) the clients use quality assessment where sustainability is one of their criteria, and 3) our own personnel looks after our activities and requires progress.
Sustainability is embedded into the whole concept containing energy-efficiency, service life, performance, etc. as part of end products or services.

Rainer Mahlamäki: I consider it is the most important issue now. My opinion is that sustainability and ecology should be the most important elements guiding architecture and construction.

SuvelaSURGE: Can you give an example of outstanding sustainable designing?

Arja Lukin: I'd  rather not give one single example. An outstanding sustainable design has a holistic approach: it combines economical, social and environmental aspects. For designs like this, one can e.g. look at the Holcim Foundation and the projects they have awarded in their international competitions. The Holcim Foundation awards emphasize the variety of excellent solutions found in different cultures and environments: in other words, there is no single solution that fits in every location and situation!

Sebastià Jornet: Not easy for me to highlight a specific example since many are known, like Vauban in Freiburg (Germany), Kronsberg in Hannover (Germany), Viikki in Helsinki (Finland), Solar City in Linz (Austria), Sarriguren eco-city (Spain), etc. to name a few. But most of these are actions related in general to urban sprawl rather than to urban reform, in which issues are always more complex, due to pre-existent elements, in terms of generating a new urban life in a place that already exists. In this regard, I'm more interested in urban recycling than urban extension, as the first basic principle should always be, as far as possible, not to consume more soil than we have used already, optimizing and improving the quality of our cities rather than extending them. In general, I have to confess that I'm quite comfortable with the planning principles that advocate zero growth as the only possible and desirable alternative for urban planning, which aims at integrating sustainability with the utmost rigor in our practice, and although Utopia is not simple, nor easy to achieve, as the distant horizon, we must serve to do just that, to advance as Eduardo Galeano¹ said.

_{[1] Eduardo Galeano (Montevideo, 1940) is a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist.}

Sakari Toikkanen: In our own production we implemented in Nupuri a geothermal heat pump system at a neighbourhood scale instead of optimizing it at a building level. In Suurpelto, the waste disposal is collected at low pressure through pipes, thus avoiding the need for garbage trucks in the housing area. In our office, we installed only LED lights on one floor and, when monitoring the performance of building services systems in our offices, we have observed that our LuxCool system provides improved energy-efficiency when benchmarked against other systems. In Viikki, we integrated PVs in the façades in 2003 already, which was then the first solar electricity application in apartment buildings in Finland.

An example from outside can be taken e.g. from Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm. We have also implemented solutions that work well there, such as heat recovery from waste water before its purification.

Rainer Mahlamäki: The buildings of Helsinki City centre are a wonderful example of sustainability. They are made of brick or stone, with thick walls. They are still standing and in good condition, and will be still in two or three hundred years. In the same time the new buildings will be growing mould and most of the have been torn down, I am afraid. We are experimenting too much in contemporary architecture and in construction.

SuvelaSURGE: How typical are the challenges Suvela faces today in Finland in general?

Arja Lukin: Suvela is a very good subject for the competition, since similar challenges can today be found all over Finland. In the 1970s the country faced a sudden need for more housing and services, as a large portion of the people moved to cities in search of work. Quick, industrial solutions were used in creating the suburbs, and while they answered the immediate problem, the other aspects were not considered.

Now the buildings have reached the age where immediate repairs should be done. While this gives an opportunity for various interventions, it also poses a big challenge in finding financial solutions.

Sebastià Jornet: During the period of the 60s and 80s, we witnessed a strong growth of our cities, in large part caused by the displacement of rural population towards them, and in this period the response of urban planning, of most of our cities, was the generation of the so-called residential developments (grands ensembles in France), also known as bedroom communities. This phenomenon occurs not only in Spain, but is largely present in many other European countries. These are times of huge construction boom, economic renewal and technological revolution, which generated a lot of neighbourhoods located in the peripheries of our cities, and in some cases, accumulated a certain amount of the different faces of marginalization, as the marginalization of their physical location, in addition to other fringe, such as the social and cultural marginalization regarding economic structures and services, or connectivity with the central city.

Having spent a lot of time recovering our urban centres, I sincerely believe that the great challenge of our cities lies precisely in these neighbourhoods, which may now occupy a place in a new urban geography, not as peripheral, and are better connected than in the beginning but continue to present a quality of life and social composition indexes below those that occur in the central city. I believe that the words pronounced by Oriol Bohigas² in the eighties, with a recently inaugurated democracy in Spain, are still applicable and our cities should focus on "sanitize the centre and monumentalize the periphery". That challenge continues be valid, at least what comes to the second part of the sentence.

_{[2] Oriol Bohigas (Barcelona, 1925), prestigious Catalan architect, founder of the office MBM Arquitectes.}

Sakari Toikkanen: Neighbourhoods of that time have a great potential for improving sustainability: the heating energy consumption is high, the lighting control and HVAC systems can be considerably improved. The density of the urban fabric can also be increased in a sustainable way.

I think that far too often the optimization of refurbishment, or even demolition, takes place at a scale of an individual building, or housing cooperative, without studying the impacts at a neighbourhood level. Issues like energy production and energy supply and management systems should be contemplated together.

Rainer Mahlamäki: It is very typical, pattern-like case. I believe, that if we have any luck the Suvela case will be a remarkable example in the country.

SuvelaSURGE: What are the most interesting innovations today which will change the way we live?

Arja Lukin: Again, it's very difficult to give a single example. I think the most interesting are the ones related to the way of living. Our current lifestyle is very unsustainable in many ways. There are many different aspects to sustainability where innovations could be made, such as energy consumption and saving, reducing the amount of electronic junk, social issues..

One of the keys, however, lies in financing. The innovations don't mean much if they are unaffordable. Take single-family housing as an example: the house itself is a huge investment, so it is very difficult to get people pay even more just to have a clean conscience. On the other hand, if the costly innovations will pay themselves back in a reasonable time frame, eg. due to lower energy consumption, they will be much more desirable.

Sebastià Jornet: I think we have learnt what we now know as "transversal urbanism", where our discipline, as well as ensure that the cities are beautiful in the deepest sense of the word, must make them socially diverse; comfortable as regards to the urban habitat they organize; interconnected regarding mobility systems; integrated within the surrounding landscape; restrained in the exploitation of natural resources, soil, energy, water; optimized in terms of waste management and consistent with the city and the territory to which they belong. Transversality is, for me and today, the greatest challenge of our discipline. Never before we had such access to information, the world had been as small as now, and never before, we had so many possibilities for communication and exchange. Innovations in the field of urban planning are coming at a time of new disciplines: social sciences, ecology, environmental sciences, mobility engineering, communication technology, etc. and to these disciplines we must be attentive, integrate them in a "concurrent and cross-cutting urban planning" which could be defined as multifaceted, due to the large number of faces, strata and sectors that have to meet to achieve the desired objective of improving quality of life of our cities and their citizens.

Sakari Toikkanen: The lifestyle has an influence on sustainability. In some cases consumers make conscious decisions on individual sustainable goods, but at the same time the overall consumption increases. Energy consumption is an issue that is followed and the increase in energy price has implications. Taxation has a direct influence in human behavior like we’ve noted in the case of cars.

New energy regulations will increase the difference between energy efficiency of the old stock compared with the newly built. We try to be at least one step ahead of regulations – we started in 2008 to aim at 2010 level and now target to the 2012 level.

We also make ESCO agreements for energy saving investments. The payback time for intelligent HVAC control systems and heat recovery may range from one to five years.

Rainer Mahlamäki: Information technology is developing with a speed we cannot imagine yet. I believe that the upheaval caused by it affect the physical environment and architecture remarkably. The forms of the buildings, their comprehensive design and realisation will gain advantage from the better prefabrication techniques. The buildings will become more intelligent – providing enormous capacity for architecture, too.

SuvelaSURGE: What are the possibilities of this kind of a competition?

Arja Lukin: A good proposal should be bold, innovative but also feasible enough.
The key in changing Suvela lies in the residents: they are the potential which is needed for change. They need to be proud of their neighbourhood. If the residents are not willing to commit to the proposal's ideas and ideals, it will not have a lasting effect. The competition should provide a "framework for a better life" in Suvela.

Sebastià Jornet: All competitions are an opportunity. An opportunity to rethink the way of urban planning, implementing all our knowledge, to compress and express in a few panels and in texts, ideas, concepts, attitudes... that we all possess. Competitions are acts of intellectual generosity, and because of this condition, are always a chance to compress, accelerate and precipitate the seed of the proposal, which must then mature into an urban project action. At the same time, the competition becomes all the proposals, a kaleidoscopic view of reality, with solutions, with attitudes, with different looks, that enrich the discourse and the reading of the reality on which we must intervene and from which we always get interesting contributions regarding the strategies, processes and actions to be carried out within the marked area of intervention.

Sakari Toikkanen: A lot can be achieved. I think it’s important not to hold to the old traditional solutions. Something new and unexpected can appear like solutions which have not even been tested before. These innovations will not necessarily be implemented in Suvela, but the idea may stick into one’s mind, will be developed further and it may find its application in another case.

Multidisciplinary team leads to thinking out of the box. Discussions between lawyers, economists and engineers may lead into novel resolutions when one has got caught with a problem in his own field.

Rainer Mahlamäki: As a member of the jury I cannot give any reply here. I keep open mind with the results and with really big expectations. As I told already before I expect something really new kind of openings.

10 AWARDS

The team submitting the best overall proposal will be awarded the main prize of 5.000 Euros.

The team submitting the most innovative, yet executable proposal, will be awarded an honorary mention of 3.000 Euros.

The jury reserves the right to allocate the award sum in a manner other than described above.

11 DOWNLOADS

Background information PDF

Suvela structures PDF

Suvela siteplans (.zip)

Suvela aerial photos (.zip)

Photos people (.zip)

Photos public (.zip)

Photos private (.zip)

Photos miscellaneous (.zip)

Plas, elevations & sections 1/2 (.zip)

Plans, elevations & sections 2/2 (.zip)

Kirstintie traffic PDF

Suvela automobile accidents 2005-2009 PDF

Competition document template PDF

Competition document template INDD

Competition document example (Please note that the competition document example is meant to illustrate how to use the template, and not to suggest any actual urban design solutions.)

Competition rules

Suvela Images & Suvela Spring Images (© Pekka Huovila)

SuvelaSURGE flyer 

12 CONTACT

Marketing material, rules, background information documents, major updates: www.sb11.org/competition

Q&A´s and discussion forum for competition teams: suvelasurge.blogspot.com

Any other related issues:

suvelasurge@gmail.com

International Student Competition Special Session within SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference: www.sb11.org

Please note that the language of the competition is English, therefore all communications (Questions&Answers, comments on the blog, etc.) will be held in English.

13 PRESS

 Download the SuvelaSURGE flyer

June 14th 2011: pressrelease

The competition is executed in collaboration with the Finnish Association of Civil Engineers RIL (www.ril.fi) and VTT Technical Research Center of Finland (www.vtt.fi).