Clean transition creates growth for Europe
The start of the year is often the time to review the past and make calculations for the future. I thought I’d also balance the books a little, but instead of budgeting, I want to summarise Mall of Tripla’s past year and cast a glance at this one.
It is starting to get crystal clear for each passer-by that Pasila has undergone a massive change during the past year. Mall of Tripla has reached such heights that the approaching completion of the shopping centre can also be seen from the outside, and soon we will celebrate Mall of Tripla’s topping out ceremony.
Even if the hustle and bustle of the site can also be seen from the outside, the sheer size of the project is hard to grasp. Already at this point, Mall of Tripla and its parking facilities have absorbed approximately 136,000 cubic metres of concrete and 12,000 tonnes of concrete reinforcements. The parking facility and the train station alone will have more than 70 lifts and 40 escalators, and their installations have already started. Approximately 8,000 square metres of ceramic and mosaic tiles will be laid in the shopping centre, the train station will have a glass ceiling covering more than 1,000 square metres, and the station and Little Manhattan will feature more than 6,000 square metres of laid granite tiles. Not to mention all the plumbing, sprinklers, air conditioning and electrical installations that are progressing on the site at a swift pace.
Such a massive project requires ironclad design and project management expertise – especially when we always focus on the customer in everything we do. The completed shopping centre must meet the needs of tenants as well as those of consumers, which is why everything has to work perfectly from day one. The experience and flow of the shopping centre visitors is a top priority for us. That is why it’s important to ask questions: when shopping, where do the visitors stop and where will they look for places to rest, how they can most easily get from one floor to another, and how they can take care of different needs from going to the bathroom to changing a baby’s diaper along the way.
In February, we will arrange a Tripla conference together with the shopping centre’s future tenants. The goal is to kick off a co-operation model with which the tenants’ wishes about the practicalities would be taken into account as early on in the construction process as possible: where are we at now, what needs to be decided?
The conference will give us much to go on, as this year, the construction will only move forward and the pace escalate. Once the concreting, tiling and painting work progresses, we will slowly approach the everyday life of customers. This is why the year 2018 is dedicated to practical matters that affect the customer experience. This year, we will install the remaining lifts and escalators, for instance, ensure functional sanitary facilities and discuss if the places of rest are comfortable and relaxing enough.
This means I have to get down to business as there are signs to be ordered and about four hundred toilets to be installed. Looks like a busy year ahead!
