Valimaa - ARRAK

VAALIMAA CUSTOMS AND BORDER STATION
Virolahti 1994 - 1996

The new Vaalimaa Customs and Border Station has recently been opened on the Finnish border at the termination point of highway E 18, on the way from Helsinki to St.Petersburg. Today approximately 1,5 million people cross the border every year between Finland and Russia and the traffic rate is rapidly increasing.

The new station is situated 1,5 km from the actual borderline leaving in between extensive clearance areas and parking lots. To make the border crossing more efficient, so-called fast traffic lanes with passport booths have been built to serve both directions. Truck traffic with no goods to declare may also use these fast lanes. All freight traffic to and from the EU is cleared inside the station building. A separate vehicle inspection building, at a short distance from the station is designed for inspecting both cargoes and trucks. Technical inspections for brake systems of selected trucks are also made by the police. A new inspection building for animals and animal products required by the EU will be completed in spring 1997.

To the outside, the station building is characterised by the high canopies for inspections, which together with the volume of the upper floor create a gate motif, which symbolises the purpose of the frontier station. Inside, the spatial structure of the station building follows accurately the course of the inspection and clearance routines, which gives an impression of a "modern ritual building".

In spite of the systematic outlook, the building is as a whole a "hybrid structure", which consists of a non-standard module system and several deviations from structural orthodoxy, based on functional requirements. The structural steel frame facilitates low floor heights and makes it possible to integrate the look of the large outdoor shelters to interior views. The basement in turn is made of concrete elements as well as the 1. floor slab is made in to a reinforced composite structure out of concrete and steel girder. The outer walls and ceilings are made of ordinary timber constructions and laminated veneer lumbers, which are covered inside with gypsum boards. The selective window elements are glazed on site with aluminium profiles to separate steel frames. The exterior panelling is of recycled paper, better known as high pressure laminated exterior sheets. The rubber bitumen waterproofing on the roof completes the difference to older, solid building techniques, that used only a few, natural materials.

As far as possible, the structures and surfaces of the buildings were chosen to reflect lightness and space. The lightness also refers to future changes and underlines the ephemeral nature of the present.

PROJECT INFORMATION
Client: The State Real Property Authority
Users: Vaalimaa Customs Station, Vaalimaa Frontier Station and the Ministry of Agriculture
Floor area: 2 050 m2
Building costs: 19.5 mil FIM / 3.25 mil EUR

Architect: ARRAK Arcitects Kiiskilä Rautiola Rautiola Ltd / Hannu Kiiskilä architect SAFA M.Sc / Esko Rautiola architect SAFA M.Sc, Hannu Huttunen architect SAFA M.Sc, Marja Nissinen architect SAFA M.Sc, Hanna Pitkänen architect SAFA M.Sc
Constructions: Engineer Office SITO Ltd / Matti Terho engineer, Juha Laitinen engineer
HDVAC: Engineer Office Termo Ins Ltd
Electrical design: Engineer Office Niilo Liukkonen Ltd
Model: Seppo Lahti, master modeler

Exhibitions: The New Generation of the North / Museum of Finnish Architecture 1997, 6th international architecture exhibition, la Biennale di Venice 1996, The New Finnish Architecture 1997 / Japan Architects Union, Museum of Finnish Architecture, The City of Helsinki City / Tokio 1997, Suomi rakentaa 9 - Finland builds 9 / Museum of Finnish Architecture 1997 Helsinki 1998

Publications: Steel Construction magazine 1/1996 Helsinki, 6th international architecture exhibition / la Biennale di Venice 1996, NORTHERN FACTOR, New Generation of the North / Museum of Finnish Architecture 1997, DOMUS 788/1996 Milan, Suomi rakentaa 9 - Finland builds 9 / Museum of Finnish Architecture 1997 Helsinki 1998, 10x10 Phaidon Press London 2000

Photos: Matti Karjanoja architect SAFA M.Sc