World Construction Network

Daily Newsletter

09 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

Finnish steel construction company Nordec has entered a development phase agreement for the main building’s steel frame at the Laakso Joint Hospital project in Helsinki, Finland.

Following a tender procedure last year, Nordec was chosen to participate in the project’s development phase.

SRV is the main contractor of this project, with Laakson LATU to carry out its architectural design works.

The scope of the project will encompass the manufacturing, delivery, and setting up of the main building’s steel frame structure, the installation of concrete elements, including joint casting, and the delivery and installation of the steel structure for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning space as per the preliminary plans.

The main building will feature eight storeys with a total floor area of more than 90,000m².

Nordec’s on-site installation work is expected to begin in early 2024.

In the wider city area meanwhile, two new hospital buildings will be built, and two protected hospital buildings will be refurbished.

Once complete, Laakso Joint Hospital will include psychiatric treatment, services from Helsinki Hospital, and intensive neurological rehabilitation services.

Furthermore, Laakso Joint Hospital is set to expand into an important teaching and research facility.

The Laakso Joint Hospital Alliance will construct a hospital complex for forensic psychiatry in Kellokoski’s Ohkola district.

Laakso Joint Hospital Alliance project manager Ossi Inkilä said: “Nordec’s decades of experience in significant steel structure design, manufacturing, and implementation are well known to SRV through several previous joint projects.

“It is fantastic to work with a reliable partner in such a landmark project that will serve the entire Helsinki metropolitan area in the future.

“Both parties also share a common view on the importance of safety, quality, and schedule as we move towards the implementation phase.”

ESG 2.0 marks a shift towards stricter environmental rules

ESG is moving into a different era, which we call ESG 2.0. While ESG 1.0 was driven by voluntary corporate action, spurred by pressure from activist consumers and investors, ESG 2.0 is being driven by a new wave of government policies. The EU has taken the regulatory lead, with rules introduced or in the pipeline that will price emissions, regulate the use of the terms ‘ESG’ and ‘sustainability’ in marketing materials, and make ESG reporting mandatory. The US has taken a different approach, favoring less regulation and more financial support in the form of tax breaks for clean industry (renewables plus nuclear and hydrogen). China is planning to expand its emissions trading system to more sectors, decarbonize its heavy industry, and ramp up its use of renewables. The new policy direction is mainly motivated by the ambition to hit net zero emissions targets. But on top of this, governments are now competing for clean industry and trying to challenge China’s leadership on the production of the world’s green technologies such as solar panels and batteries, as well as the production and refinement of materials needed for energy transition such as lithium. These driving forces are leading to policy that will impact every sector, not just heavy industry, and will keep ESG near the top of the regulatory agenda over the longer term.