The building has three floors, each with different purpose of use: work and event spaces, reading oases, studios, city workshops, a family library, a café, a restaurant and a cinema. The library has a predicted annual number of 2.5 million visitors, and daily visitor numbers of 10,000.

Image: Arkkitehtitoimisto ALA

The total cost estimate of the project is approximately 98 million euros. It covers 17,250 m2 gross area, 12,116 m2 net floor area and 9,768 m2 effective area. The city council decided to build the central library at its meeting in January 2015, and the building of the foundation began in September 2015. The builder of the central library is the City of Helsinki Premises Centre real estate agency. Ramboll CM Oy is the project’s quantity surveyor, Ramboll Finland Oy is responsible for the structural design and Ramboll Talotekniikka Oy is tasked with the design of HVAC and building automation.

Stravent Oy delivers 287 Vasatherm fan coil units and 4 Biddle air curtains to the Central Library. The deliveries of fan coil units are planned for spring 2018 and air curtains for late 2017. The fan convector system handles, for example, the cooling of libraries, studios and offices while minimising noise issues. The first Vasatherm fan coil units were installed in Finland 20 years ago at Hotel Kämp.

Biddle air curtains will be installed in the entrance tambours at the entrances to the central library. They are equipped with patented anti-vortex equalisers that eliminate vortices in the fans. The air comes out of the machine with a very dense jet in a downward direction; this can be seen from the videos taken with an infrared camera. Biddle air curtains reduce the escape of heated air from the building, minimise drag issues in the vicinity of the door and save energy.