Engineering the Major Lapland Hospital Expansion in Finland

Minimizing the ecological footprint, while optimizing the investment and the use of the hospital

We have been appointed as structural engineers for the expansion of the Lapland Central Hospital in Rovaniemi, which will create an expanded, modern, patient-centric facility to serve residents of the entire region of Lapland in Finland.

The 30,000 m² expansion will almost double the size of the existing hospital and includes the building of a ‘hot’ hospital facility, a psychiatric hospital and parking lot. The ‘hot’ site includes an emergency clinic, operating theatres, a hospital pharmacy with a manufacturing unit, an intensive care unit, equipment maintenance and storage facilities. Design and construction takes into account the need to minimise the ecological footprint, while optimising the investment and the use of the hospital.

The expansion will relieve current overcrowding as well as enabling the hospital to deliver the latest standards of modern patient care, including state-of-the-art operating theatres. In addition, the hospital’s helicopter landing pad, currently on the ground alongside the hospital, will be relocated to the roof of the new multi-storey car park to speed the transfer of patients directly into the hospital.

Location

Lapland, Finland

Architect

Verstas Architects

Project status

Due for completion in 2023

WSP is part of an alliance between Lapland Hospital District and the project delivery team which also includes the architects, VERSTAS; construction company, YIT; and HVAC contractor Are; as well as geotechnical, fire and other consultants. Following a year-long development phase, the alliance agreement for the implementation of the Central Hospital Expansion Project was agreed in early February 2020. During this development phase, all parties worked closely together to agree the most feasible and appropriate solutions for this demanding project, thus ensuring the commitment of all parties involved. The alliance contract involves many meetings and workshops and our engineering work has been carried out in close cooperation with the end users and designers from different disciplines, such as HVAC and Hospital technology.

The plans were also developed in cooperation with hospital staff to minimize the adverse effects of construction work on the hospital’s operations. Indeed, one of the main challenges of this project is to build the new hospital buildings adjacent to a fully functioning 24/7 hospital. The old and new parts of the hospital have over 200m of wall in common.

The project, valued in total at EUR 138 million, is now entering the implementation phase, moving from the design table into construction. Preparatory work began on the ‘hot’ hospital last summer, and construction will begin in earnest this April. The project is due for completion in January 2023.