Groundbreaking for Seinäjoki Station and Aallokko Center

Seinäjoki Station and Aallokko Center groundbreaking ceremony

Today, Tuesday, May 9, we are celebrating the groundbreaking for Seinäjoki Station and Aallokko Center. The ceremony marks the beginning of the construction of the first stage in a multi-year project that will transform the area in the center of Seinäjoki into a nodal point in the heart of the city.

The new train station and the Aallokko Center for health and wellbeing services form the core of the larger development project that will later be supplemented with housing and a parking facility. This first stage of the project is slated to be ready at the end of 2024. The new train station and the service center will be inaugurated in 2025.

The project is a collaboration with YIT, City of Seinäjoki, South Ostrobothnia Health and Social Services, Seipark and EQ.

The new block housing the Tran Station and the Aallokko Center for Health and Wellbeing in the center of Seinäjoki

Activating the Center of the City

Located right in the middle of the city, the train station is the heart of the city and the entire surrounding region. It is a point of access into the city and a point of connection between the city and the rest of the country. Centrally located and conveniently accessible by foot and by bike as well as by public transit or car, the area next to the station is a natural place for the new Aallokko Center that will provide a broad mix of healthcare and wellbeing services for both the city and the region around it.

Building on the existing grid plan, the new complex introduces a new level of density that invigorates the city. With its human scale, it activates this central place in the city without forgetting the individual people who collectively make the city. Responding to the needs of the growing population in the city, the new block will provide both housing and services. With a healthy balance of housing, services, businesses and open public space, it helps to strengthen social sustainability in the area.

Seinäjoki Station Hall

A Block with a Human Scale

To give it a sense of human scale and identity, the new complex housing the train station and the premises of the Aallokko Center is divided into three buildings of varying height, form and color. Referring to the tradition of train stations, the part housing the train station has facades of red brick and rounded arches around the entrances on the ground floor. In the interior, the main station hall is clad with wood to give it a sense of warmth and to soften its acoustical environment.

The atrium of the Aallokko Center for Health and Wellbeing Services

The middle one of the three buildings has facades of white brick bridging it with the white buildings of the modernist Aalto Center by Alvar Aalto. With in an open atrium space in the center, it has a lot of light in the interior. Bringing its own addition to the mix, the third building has facades of dark colored brick.

To activate the street scape, all the three buildings have retail spaces on the ground floor. With public services provided in the lower floors, the upper floors offer offices space. The red brick building housing the station is the tallest of the three. To keep its scale moderate, it has a pitched roof and a stepped height ranging between six and nine floors above the ground.

With four floors above the ground, the white building next to it is the lowest one of the three. It has a flat roof that allows it to function as a connecting piece that links the red brick building together with the dark building with a pitched roof and a height varying between six and seven floors.

A Series of Open Spaces in the City

A new square connects the station and the two other buildings for the Aallokko Center into one unity. Complementing the already existing open public spaces nearby, it will provide much needed open public space in the center of the city. Together the new Station Square, Market Square and the Aalto Center will form a series of open public spaces in the center of the city.

Seinäjoki Station and Aallokko Center

With its dynamic mix of services, housing, and public spaces, the block provides a new interpretation of Seinäjoki as an urban place. It is composed of five main elements: the new train station, a center for wellbeing and healthcare services, offices and commercial spaces, housing, and open public spaces. The goal is to create an active urban area in the core of the city.

The plan builds on the study by OOPEAA in collaboration with the Gehl People to develop a vision for the Seinäjoki City Center. For more information on the Seinäjoki Vision, see HERE.

For a more information about the new plan for the Seinäjoki Station Area, see HERE.