State-of-the-art premises for VTT’s nuclear safety research
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd has launched its operations at the nuclear safety house gradually. The house was built using the Senate Properties key project model.
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Flexible collaboration
Until now, VTT has carried out nuclear safety research in various locations in Otaniemi. The new four-storey house brings these operations under one roof. The office spaces have gradually been taken into use, and the laboratories will be next. The house will be fully operational from the beginning of 2018. The nuclear safety house is the first building project to apply Senate Properties’ new contracting model, the key project alliance.
Activity-based environment promote communication
Senior Specialist Pasi Hopia, who has been in charge of the project at VTT, says that the activity-based environment in the nuclear safety house is a big change from the previous workplace culture, where specialists worked in their own offices in a number of buildings. “The activity-based space offers better opportunities for interaction, as all the specialists work in the same house. We have used office furniture and screens to create spaces where employees can focus on their research. Assigned work spaces make sense as the researchers have a lot of research and printed material,” says Hopia. The offices and laboratory spaces are located close together on each floor.
Modelling and experimental research
The nuclear safety house guarantees that VTT will be able to carry out experimental research in the long term and maintain its role as a top international organisation in its field. “We carry out nuclear safety-related modelling and experimental research. The experimental research side of our business located in the new building includes safety testing of building materials, radiochemistry and disposal of nuclear waste, which are done in the laboratories. People in the offices are involved in calculations and safety analyses,” says Research Team Leader Petri Kotiluoto from VTT. According to Kotiluoto, having a centralised space for all research activities enhances communication between researchers, which makes some operations, such as modelling research, easier to carry out.
