Keski-Pasila. Digital Twin of large urban development project in Helsinki.

The Keski-Pasila urban development project in Helsinki is an ambitious undertaking, which is to lead to the creation of a modern urban centre with residential, office and service functions in the next 15 years. It is one of the largest investments of this type in Finland in recent years.

The objectives of the urban development project:

• creating an attractive, compact urban space, combining residential, office, and service functions
• strengthening the competitiveness of Helsinki by creating a new city centre with a unique identity
• raising the standard of living of residents by integrating various urban functions

One of the key elements of this transformation is the Tripla complex, which opened in October 2019. It includes the new Pasila railway station, approximately 50,000 m² of office space, a hotel with over 400 rooms, and a shopping centre with 250 shops, making it the largest of its kind in the Nordic countries. There are also plans for skyscrapers from the Trigoni series, the tallest of which is to reach about 180 meters, making it one of the tallest buildings in Finland.

However, implementing an investment project of such scope and complexity involves a number of various, serious challenges.

These challenges include, among others:

• exchange and mutual understanding of information between many involved entities, such as design offices, contractors, institutions, or public administration offices
• integration of large amounts of design data from different sources and operating in various, often incompatible formats
• the need to quickly plan, test, and verify design assumptions for various technical systems in the Digital Twin environment: 5G networks, IoT devices, monitoring systems, or city lighting
• communication of complex technical information to city residents and the wider public, as well as conducting public consultations
• comparing alternative planning concepts and design solutions, as well as ensuring that all data is up to date
• maintaining the flowof the decision-making process so that difficulties in the exchange and mutual understanding of information do not disrupt or delay this process

Solution

In order to address these challenges, Blare Tech, together with the Finnish partner SITOWISE, provided the Client - the city authorities of Helsinki, with a solution in the form of our Digital Twin platform called Aura.

Aura is an integrated visualization, simulation, analysis, and planning tool. It leverages a proprietary simulation engine, state-of-the-art graphics, and modern technical features. Its ability to connect to IoT data makes Digital Twin accessible and informative. Aura supports planning, testing, development, and communication for architectural, infrastructure, engineering, and urban projects.

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In the Keski-Pasila project, our solution allowed for:

• presentation of complex data, models, and engineering and architectural concepts in a clear, intuitive, visual way. This allowed for easier understanding by non-technical staff, e.g. city officials or investor representatives
• creation of a Digital Twin of the investment, presenting many distributed design data in the form of an integrated virtual model. This allowed for the visualization of the complete investment in its final form
• fast, preliminary planning, simulation, and verification of assumptions for the designed solutions and technical systems, such as local 5G networks, video monitoring systems, new city lighting, or Smart City functionalities
• effective presentation of the project concept to the residents of Helsinki for public consultations. The legal regulations in force in Finland require such consultations to be carried out in every project involving public funds
• verification and comparison of alternative planning concepts to assess them and analyze their impact on the entire project. Thanks to the possibility of placing different data and models on separate application layers, switching between different variants and their combinations is extremely easy
• ensuring easier understanding of design information for all parties involved, which allowed for a significant reduction in delays caused by potential misunderstandings and, as a result, faster and more efficient decision-making