Maritime Centre Vellamo

Maritime Centre Vellamo, Kotka Vellamo: Beacon of the Cityscape
Kotka’s Maritime Centre Vellamo fulfils a visual as well as a strategic function within the cityscape. The figure of the Maritime Centre guides travellers from the heart of the city out to the north-eastern end of the City Terminal and into a harbour of culture.

A Maritime Vision/ The title of the proposal to win first prize in the architectural competition to design the Maritime Centre was HYÖKY, ‘swell’. The abstract image of a large wave, a swell, which dominates the exterior of the building, and the façade, specially designed to capture the glint of the water, combine to create a physical representation of the sea.
Proactive Cityscape/ Situated at the end of the planned culture harbour, the roof of the Maritime Centre, forms a square which will play host to a wide array of different events. A walkway rising gently from the city centre and widening as it reaches the top of the building leads up to the rooftop square.
The elevated exhibition space housing the permanent collection, shared by both in-house museums, plays a key role in the Maritime Centre. A walkway forming both a visual and a physical link between the two museums’ exhibition spaces leads out of the shared foyer.

The Maritime Centre is primarily built around a column and beam system of reinforced concrete girders. The rooftop square, the covering over the fitted upper floor and the maintenance area is a combination of steel, glass and aluminium. The outer walls are constructed using a lightweight skeleton structure. Sheet-metal cassettes, painted in a variety of different shades, are the primary building material on the exterior of the building, to which a lattice made of aluminium and pressed-silk glass has been affixed.

Vellamo: Sustainability The program of Vellamo is large, but the building itself is very compact to ensure the energy efficiency and sustainability aspects. The heated spaces are optimal in shape and the façade area has been minimised and oriented optimally. The HVAC installations are designed to ensure energy efficiency.