Skarta signed a contract with SSAB regarding construction project of new office building, as well as research and laboratory facility, to Raahe plant
22.06.22Builder of a clean future SkartaNYAB Plc’s subsidiary Skarta Finland Ltd made an agreement with globally operating steel company SSAB regarding a new project in Raahe plant district on 22 June. Skarta will build a new research and laboratory facility and an adjacent office building all the way to inner surfaces, a total of approximately 8000 m2. Value of the project is 12 million euros.
Skarta will construct a new building to SSAB’s plant in Raahe. The building will replace old laboratory facilities that are at the end of their lifecycle, as well as old office of the plant that was demolished earlier this year. The investment is made to develop and speed up the functioning of the laboratories, as well as to prepare for SSAB’s transition towards manufacturing fossil free steel. SkartaNYAB’s strategy is also based on building a clean future, including clean water and energy, as well as sustainable infrastructure.
Floor area of the new building at the Raahe plant is 7750 square meters, of which offices will constitute about 3000 and the research facility about 5000 square meters. Approximately 100 people will be working in the premises.
”It is exciting to get to execute this noteworthy project for SSAB. This is a challenging and interesting project. We will be working in an operating and busy plant district, which needs to be acknowledged in everything we do, such as planning of the logistics and work safety that is always the first priority both for SSAB and for us”, says Pekka Nissinen, Site Manager at Skarta Finland.
The building will be steel framed and have foundations with ground clearance. SSAB’s steel structures and products will be used in the construction. Outer walls are made of SPA element and the roof is a lean to felt roof with wooden frames. Nissinen describes the special characteristics of the building: coating of the facade units and sheet metal platings is partially made of impressive, SSAB’s rusty-coated COR-TEN® that is also used as material for the shading wall of the double frame wall, as well as a design element in several parts of the interior, such as the lobby. SSAB’s color coated GreenCoat steel, that corresponds to strict environmental and quality demands, is also used in the outer sheath of the building.
Skarta starts the construction right away and completes it in a tight schedule, as the massive building that includes architectural and aesthetic details is to be completed in one and a half years, by the end of 2023. The project is a shared project, in which Skarta is the contractor for work in the field of construction engineering, as well as the main contractor. HVAC and electric contractors will operate as side contractors.
SSAB Europe Ltd’s Project Manager Ville Lahtinen says that Skarta’s offer met SSAB’s needs very well:
”Skarta’s services and strategy fit well together with SSAB’s projects of the future and the transition towards manufacturing fossil free steel. Control of indoor air conditions, as well as noise and vibration coming from the equipment, is highlighted in the operations of the research facility. This requires careful constructing, as well as purity and humidity control, from the main contractor so that quality requirements are fulfilled. In addition, visitors of the plant get to familiarize themselves with SSAB’s products and solutions in the building, because of which it needs to be of high quality and in line with our products and services as well. The aim of the project for us and for Skarta is to build high-quality, safe and healthy facilities for personnel and visitors of the Raahe plant in cooperation and as scheduled.”
”Cooperation between Skarta and SSAB is natural, as both companies share similar values of building a clean future, and a vision of a more sustainable world”, Nissinen concludes.
