“Able withstand a train crash,” reported the public service broadcasting company Yle in June 2018. Eighteen months earlier, the tone of reporting had been quite different: errors had been discovered in the foundations and vertical structures of the hospital’s concrete deck which was designed to cross over the railway and motorway running from Helsinki to Turku. The concrete was too brittle, and its strength was not estimated to withstand the strain caused by a potential collision. Demolition and repair work was started immediately, but already almost 3,000 cubic metres of concrete of deficient strength had been set in place. This caused a substantial delay in the construction work.
“The dismantling and rebuilding of the structures already made will
delay the completion by about ten months. The contractor is responsible for the
costs of dismantling and rebuilding, but the delay will also cause significant
expenses for the Hospital District. This is distressing, of course, but
fortunately we were able to negotiate the costs and organise flexible
funding,” said Project Director Timo
Seppälä at the time.
Happily today there are good news about the construction site. The new
concrete deck is strong enough and set in place, and the new hospital will be
completed in the autumn of 2021. The new building will house some key functions
of the dilapidated U Hospital, which was built in the 1960s. These functions
include the treatment of children and adolescents; childbirth and gynaecology;
ear, nose and throat, and medical support services, such as clinical
neurophysiology and medical imaging.
Flexible financing with
real-estate leasing
The original project design for the new T3 building was approved in
2014. This large-scale project involves numerous partners. The project belongs
to the Hospital District of Southwest Finland and is located on land owned by
the City of Turku, while underneath the new hospital the railway lines and the
Turku-Helsinki motorway serve travellers.
Three years ago, MuniFin joined the project as its financier. The T3
hospital is an extraordinary project not only because of its architecture, but
also its funding. The Hospital District decided to finance it with flexible
real-estate leasing.
“In the economy stabilisation programme launched in 2012, we
committed ourselves to a maximum loan portfolio of MEUR 200 in our Hospital
District. Due to our large investment programme, our debt-to-equity-ratio was
already quite high. We wanted to reduce the price risk associated with
refinancing, while keeping the financial model easily comparable to our own
balance sheet financing. It was absolutely necessary to start the T3 hospital
project, and that is why we chose the flexible real-estate leasing offered by
Municipality Finance,” says Leena
Setälä, the Hospital District’s Director of Strategy.
The T3 project is MuniFin’s first hospital project implemented with
real-estate leasing.
Real-estate leasing is a flexible alternative to conventional balance
sheet loans. With financial leasing, the costs are divided over a long period
of time, without the investment burdening the balance sheet, as it does when
using a balance sheet loan.
“In practice, we act as the financier and owner of the T3 Hospital.
The Hospital District has selected the contractor responsible for the
construction through competitive tendering and will lease the building from us
with a leasing contract after its completion,” Department Director Kirsi Räbinä from MuniFin explains.
In a long-term construction project such as the T3 hospital, funding
needs to be carefully considered from the point of view of its long-term
effects. The newly updated price tag of the eight-storey new construction with
a total area of about 55,000 square meters is approximately MEUR 190.
In the project plan, the project’s costs have been estimated according
to the 2014 Tender Price Index. However, the cost level of construction at that
time was completely different to what it will be in 2021, which is the time
frame for the construction and financing of the T3 hospital. Due to the faster
than anticipated rise of construction costs and the prolonged completion
schedule resulting from the problem with the concrete, the project funding had
to be reviewed, and a budget negotiation was held in the summer of 2017.
“We went through the costs of the project, the development of
building cost indexes in the coming years and factors that had caused
additional costs, such as the concrete problem. The flexible renegotiation of
financing was a win in a difficult situation,” Setälä says.
The missing piece completes
the whole
The Finnish hospital stock is at a stage where new constructional
solutions are needed. New technical possibilities and needs require precise
planning and some skill at predicting the future.
“The hospital must stand the test of time and be able to serve not
only the current but also future needs of health care. Demographic factors,
future illnesses and the functioning of the premises have been taken into
account in the planning,” Setälä says.
The ambitious and impressive location of the new T3 hospital is more
than the fruit of architectural passion. Located on top of high-speed transport
connections, the hospital provides easy access from the outside, but also
brings synergies within it. T3 forms a continuum with other parts of the
hospital. The same courtyard houses Hospital A built in the 1930s and the
facilities of the University of Turku’s Faculty of Medicine, also known as
Medisiina D. The future campus area will enable, among others, close
cooperation between teaching and research and sharing the facilities between
students and the hospital.
“Whereas in the past the railway and motorway split the hospital
area apart and separated the units, they now combine them into a functional
whole,” explains Riikka Aaltonen,
Project Director of Functional Design.
The starting point for the design were the synergies between the various
functionalities.
“We are seeking operational reforms that will reduce, for example,
the unnecessary movement of goods and people. The new connection will allow the
operating theatres, among others, to function in the same building as one
operating unit. This will benefit both patients and the staff,” Aaltonen
continues.
Unification is an important point not only for functionality but also
from the point of view of symbolism: T3 is the missing piece of the hospital
area.
What does a hospital for a new
kind of thinking look like?
There are three principles guiding the design of the hospital complex:
the building must be healthy, safe and functional. In addition to this, the
architects wanted to challenge people’s ideas of what a hospital looks and
feels like. The objective was to create a hospital that is also visually
beautiful and welcoming.
Architect Mikko Sinervo from
the Architect Group Reino Koivula is in charge of the visual appearance of the
hospital. The starting point of the design was the story that Sinervo created
together with Matti Tainio, who is
responsible for the acquisition of art within the hospital project.
This story is based on a typical Finnish archipelago landscape, where
the hospital represents an island and the busy motorway underneath represents
flowing water. The engine room to be built on the roof of the hospital acts as
a lighthouse that illuminates the surrounding landscape.
The story continues indoors and incorporates the animals of the island.
The emblematic animals have a two-fold function: they give people something
pleasant to think about and act as signposts. The building has two large
light-filled foyers that are made from glass from floor to ceiling.
“Why does a hospital have to look like a hospital? T3 is
revolutionising and breaking boundaries. The new facilities will also make art
and culture possible in this space, i.e. the very things that make a place feel
comfortable for both the employees and patients,” Aaltonen sums up.
Text: Heidi Penttinen
Photo: Architect Group Reino Koivula & Schauman Arkkitehdit